Manage Thy Anger
by St. Noof
Summary: Knuckles is sent to anger management after a car accident... There are a lot of familiar characters there, as well as people from ISBVI.
1. An Unfair Fate

**A/N: Can't believe I actually went back and revised this story... Well, here's hoping everyone likes the new parts!**

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**Manage Thy Anger**

_By St. Noof_

**Chapter 1: An Unfair Fate**

"And therefore, I sentence you to an anger management class, so you can control those emotions!" The judge's gavel banged, signaling the finalization Knuckles' temporary fate.

_Anger management? Bah!_ he thought. _I have no anger problems! That stupid pedestrian almost got hit because of himself!_ Said less-than-agreeable echidna had been driving through Indianapolis a few days ago, trying to figure out just how the _bloody hell_ he was to get back to Angel Island, when some enormous man had jaywalked and cut him off. After narrowly missing the pedestrian, Knuckles had abruptly gotten out of his truck and begun to beat the living tar out of him. The police arrived in the middle of the one-sided brawl, and thus, court ensued.

"Knuckles? _Knuckles?_" said a _very _annoying voice. "_**KNUCKLES!**_" Knuckles snapped out of his thoughts to see the blue hedgehog shaking him.

"What do you want?" snapped the Guardian.

"Well, I'm your ride home, aren't I?" Sonic asked. "You can't drive with a suspended license, you know."

"I'll _walk,_" Knuckles growled.

"Now that won't do, Knux," Sonic said with a mild hint of humor in his voice. "C'mon, let's get you home." The azure hero stepped forward, putting a friendly arm around the echidna. However, he wasn't counting on something in those violet eyes to _snap._

XXX

"I still don't see why I'm tied up!" The echidna was sitting in the backseat of Sonic's blue sports car, a machine deemed the Blue Streak. Knuckles' hands were tied together, as were his legs. He was also wearing a blindfold, and the seat belt was secured tightly around his body.

"It's because you almost killed Sonic," said Tails from the front seat. "I hope that class goes well, because you need it."

"Maybe I'll duck out some day and pay you a little _visit!_" Knuckles screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Okay, spray him again," Sonic said calmly. Tails reached under the seat and produced a small orange bottle. One puff of smoke later, Knuckles sat very quietly in his seat, unwilling to make any further argument…

"Isn't it nice when we can all get along?" quipped the amber kit with a grin.

XXX

"Good morning, class!" said the anger management instructor. He was a man of about sixty or so with short gray hair. "My name is Mr. Schnieders."

"Good morning, Mr. Schnieders," said several gruff voices in the room. The red echidna sat in the middle desk of the front row, and was silently planning that night's visit to Sonic's condo. The classroom was located in the middle of the resident school's huge bell tower, and its high ceiling and large windows allowed for an excellent view of the forest that lay beyond the parking lot.

"I guess we have a new student here today," said the enthusiastic instructor. "Everone, say hello to Knuckles."

"Hey, Knux."

"How's it going, Knuckles?"

The two greetings that stood out to the Guardian were those of a familiar crocodile and hedgehog sitting to either side of him.

"Vector? Shadow? What're you guys doing here?"

"The bellboy scratched my suitcase, so I snapped his neck and hid the body under my bed," said Shadow.

"Now, now, Shadow," Mr. Schnieders scolded. "Those kinds of jokes aren't very well tolerated in the city."

"Well, I bet the bellboy doesn't get a lot of tips now," came a low voice from a black fox in the corner, followed by several loud guffaws.

"I'd like you guys to settle down now," sighed the instructor. After several more minutes of laughter, his face began to change to a beet red. "_**SHUT UP!**_" he screamed. The class laughed a little more, and then fell silent.

"So, what exactly do you do in anger management?" Knuckles asked.

"Well, in this class, we like to practice techniques for managing rage using skits and games," Mr. Schnieders said.

"In plain English, we play games that are supposed to help us be less mad," Vector added sardonically.

"Being less angry has nothing to do with these techniques," said a red-haired human boy sitting behind Knuckles. The boy was rather short in stature, and his voice had a nasal tone that annoyed the scarlet echidna. "The amount of anger is totally irrelevant. These techniques merely help us _control _that amount of anger."

"Now, Jimmy, don't be a know-it-all," Mr. Schnieders chided.

"Does it matter?" said a short girl near the back. "Listen, as long as we're here, it doesn't matter what we have to do. What matters is getting through the class and getting out."

"Thank you, Amanda," Mr. Schnieders said with relief. "Now, let's get started. I'd like Knuckles to stand up in front of the class and introduce himself. What do you say, Knuckles?"

"Personally, I'm not much one for telling people about myself," Knuckles said in an irritated tone.

"Don't be shy, now," said the instructor in his insanely mellow voice.

"It would probably help you relieve your anger," said a green frog sitting on the left side of the room.

"Very good, Kermit," Mr. Schnieders said. "Talking about yourself can really help with anger problems." Just then, a loud, shrill bell rang. "Well, I guess we're out of time for today. See you all on Friday." There were many sighs of relief as the classroom emptied, most of the students heading out in groups.

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**Much to what I'm sure will be surprise, I actually revised this chapter some… Put in some more info and descriptions, that kind of thing. Hope it's more to your enjoyment!**

**Next Chapter**: _Return to ISBVI_


	2. Return to ISBVI

**A/N: More revisions: Now with author's notes and better descriptions!**

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**Chapter 2: Return to ISBVI**

"How was it, buddy?" asked Sonic, looking over at the passenger's side seat. Knuckles was in the Blue Streak again, but he was in a mildly better mood (a more accurate description would be "he wasn't ready to kill anyone who talked to him"), so Sonic didn't tie him up. He was even sitting in the front seat.

"It was actually pretty funny," Knuckles said with a malicious grin. "Schnieders didn't get anywhere between the random kids talking and Shadow making that joke."

"Well, I guess it's helping, then," sighed Sonic. "How about we go to McChili-Dogs for lunch?"

"Oh, not there _again_," Tails groaned from the back. "Last time we ate there, you got sick after the twenty-seventh chili-dog."

"Ah, but you forget my new strategy," the blue hedgehog smirked. "Root beer."

"Let's just skip it today," Knuckles intervened.

xxx

"Jerry, Jerry!" The television screamed. Knuckles sat in front of it on the couch, eating a huge bag of Noof brand potato chips. The ride home had been somewhat arduous with Sonic and Tails arguing about the mechanics of record-breaking chili-dog eating, and Knuckles had tried several times to get them to just drop the ordeal. The two had driven off after dropping Knuckles at his house, and the echidna had to guess that Sonic was going to try for twenty-eight.

_This is a boring show,_ Knuckles thought. _Why do I even watch it?_ He grabbed the remote and pressed the channel button. The screen changed to a cartoon. An obese man wearing a white shirt and green pants was talking to a dog.

"How'd it go?" said the dog, which was sitting at a table.

"I told her she was fat," said the man guiltily. The dog took the newspaper he was reading and hit the man over the head, saying, "No. No." This was followed by the thumb of Knuckles' mitten sliding over the POWER button on the TV remote.

_Eh, I've seen this one…_ he concluded as he got up, put the bag of chips away, and lay on the couch to get some rest.

xxx

_Buzz, buzz, buzz…_

The echidna groaned as he reached over to try and smash the alarm clock. Friday had come too quickly, and the alarm clock had insisted that the echidna begin the day at 6:15. Such was the life of a person living without his purpose. Without a way back to his floating home, the Guardian had had to take residence in this brick house and do nothing with his days.

_I bet Sonic set this…_ Knuckles thought angrily. Outside, a car horn beeped in an upbeat tune that sounded like it had destroyed an Invincibility Box. The disgruntled echidna got up and went outside.

"You pest," he spat at the blue hedgehog. "Class doesn't start until 8:30!"

"That doesn't mean I can't challenge you to a friendly race," Sonic said from the Blue Streak, removing his dark sunglasses.

"Are you crazy?" Knuckles asked, but he already knew the answer. "I can't outrun a _car_."

"Who said _you _were running?"

"Oh, no. No no no no no no. You're _not_ gonna get me to drive with a suspended license."

xxx

The Blue Streak rushed down the empty lanes of College Avenue as the blue hedgehog easily ran circles around it. The radio was blaring a country tune, and the red echidna hoped to Chaos that there were no cops around.

_Damn you, Sonic…_ the echidna grumbled mentally. _Although, I could've just punched him in the face… but that would mean __walking__ to class…_

They were now reaching the final stretch of road that led up to the campus of ISBVI, where the anger management class took place. The Blue Streak was running on empty, and the Blue Blur was still running with ease. In the parking lot, Knuckles managed to steer the azure behemoth roughly into a parking space, and Sonic came to a halt, panting as he rested on the side of his pride and joy.

"That… was… invigorating…" the blue rodent sputtered.

"That was _dangerous,_" Knuckles growled. "How in the Emerald's name did you convince me do race you here?"

"It's easy," Sonic grinned. "You can't resist a challenge."

xxx

"Well, good morning again," greeted the instructor with his usual unusual perkiness. It was only 8:10, and Knuckles had decided to go in early rather than try and eat breakfast at Burger Noof in ten minutes; a record Sonic had likely been able to shatter when he was three.

"Hey, Mr. Schnieders," Knuckles said with an imperceptible air of being annoyed.

"Are you finally ready to get started with your anger problems?" Mr. Schnieders asked.

"To be honest, the last class made more progress then I thought it would," Knuckles admitted. "Are Shadow and Vector in this class for as long as I have to be?"

"Well, actually, Shadow's graduating today, and Vector just stays because he thinks it's funny." Just then, the door to the tower room opened, and Jimmy walked in, holding a computer case on his head, and the laptop it would normally include under his arm.

"I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to Mr. Lovati's room today until 10:30," he said.

"Jimmy, I think you should stay here," Mr. Schnieders said sternly.

"You're _not_ going to be able to stop me, you know," Jimmy said through gritted teeth. With that, he began storming out of the room. Knuckles took one look at Mr. Schnieders, who looked downright disappointed, and lunged forward, seizing Jimmy by the shoulders and almost making him drop the laptop.

"You should probably _listen_ to our _kind_ and _courteous_ instructor, _Jimmy_," Knuckles growled, holding Jimmy up so that his eyes met the fierce expression on the Guardian's face.

"Settle down, Knuckles," Mr. Schnieders said tentatively. After several moments, his face became a rich beet color, like it had the previous Tuesday. "_PUT HIM DOWN!_" he screamed. Knuckles dropped the scrawny human, who landed on the floor with a loud _thump_.

"Forget it," Jimmy growled. "I'll just _stay here._"

"Thank you, Jimmy," Mr. Schnieders sighed. "Well, now that that's over with, let's all sit down so class can begin." Knuckles and Jimmy obliged, taking seats that were far away from each other. As the next few minutes passed, the students began to return, beginning with various humans and slowing to a halt with Shadow, Vector, and the ebony fox that had shown so much glee in Shadow's previous anecdote.

"Good morning, class," Mr. Schnieders said brightly. "I see we're all back today, and I've got a special exercise for you all." He made a small gesture toward the door of the drafty room. "Come on in, James." Through the door came a mellow "Sure thing, Mr. Schnieders.", and a boy of about seventeen walked in. He was of an average height, and the glasses he wore slightly magnified his bright eyes. As soon as he was made known, the class erupted in laughter.

"Class, this is James Flowers," Mr. Schnieders proclaimed.

"We _all_ know James," mumbled a bored-looking student in the center of the room.

"AJ, there are people here who don't go to ISBVI," Mr. Schnieders said in a tone of distaste.

"Does it matter?" Shadow asked. "His hair is freakin' _hilarious_!" The class began to laugh again as they looked at James's long, curly hair.

"Hey, man, that's why I never got it cut," James said coolly. "I don't like it short, and it makes people laugh."

_Hmm… _Knuckles thought. _Maybe a good cut would rile him up a bit… but I'll wait until Shadow __really__ starts roasting him…_

"Hey, it's been a while since the '60s!" the black fox sneered.

"I know, dude," James said. "It's been like… forty-five years…"

"About as old as that shirt!" cackled Amanda. "Tye-dye's been out for a _looooong_ time."

"Naw, this thing's only a few months old," James replied obliviously.

"Yeah, if it was _that_ old, we'd be smelling forty-five years of his dad's pot-smoke!" Shadow snickered. "That shirt's obviously just a worthless remake." James was now almost visibly angry; his face had become a hot pink that Knuckles couldn't laugh harder at. Just as the hot pink gave way to mild vermilion, someone threw a stress ball, which hit James square on the forehead.

"_THAT'S IT!_" he cried, his eyes burning with rage. Knuckles had crept behind him, and had taken a pair of scissors off of the desk in the back of the room, where Mr. Schnieders sat quietly, almost as if in shock. Knuckles stepped forward and opened the scissors as James continued his rant. "_I AGREED TO DO THIS CLASS FOR MR. SCHNIEDERS, BUT YOU GUYS CROSSED THE LINE! I OUGHTTA – _" The scissors shattered as they closed around the shoulder-length curly locks of hair. _Didn't see that one coming…_ Knuckles thought with a gulp. James whipped around faster than Sonic when he heard the ice-cream truck's tinkling rendition of "Live and Learn", only James was _angry_.

"I-I-I thought I saw a bug…" Knuckles stammered, not before James had nearly missed his head with a punch deadlier than Perfect Chaos's homing missiles. Rolling to the side, Knuckles began to think as he continued to dodge the maelstrom of rage flowing from the teenage boy's inner sanctum.

_Who knew this kid could get so angry?_ Knuckles thought as he back-flipped against a wall, and then used it as a springboard to gain enough altitude to glide over James's head. James looked up, then whipped his head in an awkward circle that thrust his long hair up into Knuckles. The Guardian seemed to fall in slow-motion, and managed to land lightly on his feet. Barely visible on his stomach was a scarlet line, hardly deeper than the hue of the echidna's fur. _What the hell?_ he thought. _Hair isn't supposed to do _that…

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**I think I'll leave you faithful readers hanging for now. This chapter's long enough. Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of the fight between the Guardian and the hippie… Please review.**

**Next Chapter: **_Guardian vs. Hippie_


	3. Guardian vs Hippie

**A/N: Well, after a unanimous vote in my family, I've decided to update Manage Thy Anger before Smash or Sonic RPG, so prepare yourself for the exciting conclusion of K.T.E. vs. James Flowers!**

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**Chapter 3: Guardian vs. Hippie**

After noticing the cut on his stomach, Knuckles found that the best strategy was to circle his opponent and study him. He passed slowly around the room, dodging the occasional shoulder charge from the teenage hippie and analyzing his patterns of attack.

"What's the matter, _echidna_? _Scared_?" James sneered.

"No, just analytic," the Guardian said calmly. In a split second, Knuckles had found that using a fake plant in the corner of the oblong room was suitable for climbing to about seven feet above ground. The quick-thinking echidna used this vantage point to plot his glide to the other side of the room, where he picked up a desk with ease and hurled it at the boy he was fighting. James saw the projectile the millisecond before it collided with his head, and whipped the iron-strength locks of his hair. The curly brown strands crashed into the desk with a clank, and the unfortunate spectators watched as the heavy wood and metal piece of furniture split neatly in two.

"How… the… _hell_?" Knuckles sputtered.

"Knuckles, please try and keep your mouth clean in this classroom," Mr. Schnieders said timidly.

"You've got a seventeen-year-old slashing desks in half with his _hair_, and you're scolding _me_?"

"S-s-sorry," Mr. Schnieders said, his ears turning red. "James, settle down."

_Clearly, Schnieders isn't going to stand up for himself,_ Knuckles thought. _I guess I've got to pummel this kid into submission for him…_ Not thinking, Knuckles dashed forward, hopped to the top of one of the desk halves, and sprang into the air. He twisted his body so as to land a clean kick into James's stomach. The teenage boy gave an inarticulate cry of rage, picked up the other desk half, and began chasing the echidna. He worked his way to the back of the room, where the teacher's desk was flanked by tall fake plants and several windows that stretched to the ceiling. As Knuckles did a smart backward jump onto the teacher's desk, James brandished the splintered hunk of wood and metal. Several events occurred in the following instant: one or more of the tall windows shattered, James appeared to have struck his opponent, and a scarlet echidna flew from the upper sanctions of the bell tower of ISBVI.

Knuckles heard a scream of triumph from the tower room as he clung to the outside wall one story below. _I promise, I'll pay for the holes in the wall, _he thought. _but I'm _not _paying for the damage that damn hippie did…_

"_**JAMES FLOWERS!**_" Mr. Schnieders screamed. "_**HOW COULD YOU ATTACK OUR NEWEST STUDENT?**_" James sat at one of the desks that was still intact and unmoved. He breathed heavily, and his face still burned a furious shade of scarlet. "_**WELL?**_" the instructor shouted.

"I-I'm sorry, man," James said between rapid breaths. "It was like I couldn't control myself… I hope the first part of the demonstration was helpful…" From the hallway, a black hedgehog could be seen crawling back into the room.

"_**BECAUSE OF YOU, SHADOW WON'T BE GETTING HIS GRADUATION CEREMONY!**_" Mr. Schnieders yelled.

"What the hell, man?" Shadow said indignantly. "I graduated, fair and square."

"I never said you wouldn't be receiving your _diploma_, Shadow," Schnieders said in a calmer tone. "As a matter of fact, I have it in my desk here." The teacher opened a drawer in the desk at the back of the room and extracted a cheesy-looking diploma rolled up and tied with ribbon. "Congratulations, Shadow the Hedgehog."

"Thanks… I guess…" Shadow took the diploma with a look of pure confusion. "Does this mean I can stop wearing that 'I am Mentally Unstable' pin when I go out?"

"Oh, no," Mr. Schnieders said. "You're still a _very_ disturbed individual. As a matter of fact, Dr. Mathews sent me an e-mail requesting that I remind you of your appointment tomorrow afternoon."

"Fine," Shadow growled. "I _hate _that pin. It hurts when I put it on."

"You should have thought of that when you killed that bellboy," Schnieders said coldly.

"Dude, your class was on the _news_ today," Sonic said as he drove the Blue Streak from the parking lot of the blind school. "I still can't believe you got into a fight at an anger-management class."

"Shut up, Sonic," Knuckles mumbled. "The kid wasn't normal. He had hair of steel, I swear."

"_Riiiight_," the hedgehog grinned. "You're just itchin' for something to defend, that's all. Maybe you've spent too much time away from your precious island."

"I said _shut up_!" Knuckles roared, swinging his left hand in a low arc that knocked Sonic's root beer out of the cup-holder. The open can flew through the air momentarily, and landed on Sonic's lap.

"Oh, c'mon," Sonic groaned.

"Serves you right, hedgehog."

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**Well, there you have it – the world-famous conclusion that's not as great as the first part, but everyone waits for it anyway… I sincerely hope you enjoyed it. By the way, I'm pressed for ideas, so if you faithful readers have any thoughts, drop me a PM.**

Next Chapter: _How Shadow and Knuckles Got Along_


	4. How Shadow and Knuckles Got Along

**A/N: Wow, it has been **_**way **_**too long since my last update… This should be good though… I might feature a little more of Knuckles' home life than more ISBVI stuff, but the humor should still prevail. I would also like to take this opportunity to announce that I will be writing a compilation of Shadow's meetings with Dr. Josh Mathews. However, I don't have a name for it, so if you review, please submit a name for it if you've got one. And now, Chapter 4 of Manage Thy Anger.**

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**Chapter 4: How Shadow and Knuckles Got Along**

The blue car sped away from the brick house as Knuckles fumbled with a key.

_I might want to listen to Sonic one of these days about wearing regular gloves… _the Guardian thought as he dropped the shiny silver instrument… for the eighth time. _Of course, it didn't help that I spilled his precious root beer…_ Finally, the key was successfully inserted into the deadbolt of the back door and the echidna walked inside. In Knuckles' mind, change was something that was to be planned far in advance, especially when it came to living. He was surprised, therefore, when he ran into the couch after walking in the back door. Sidestepping the couch and looking around, he then noticed that there was a note on the kitchen table, next to a half-eaten bowl of cereal.

_Your kitchen chairs are too hard and cold._

_With hatred,_

_Shadow_

The echidna growled as he effortlessly lifted the furniture with one hand and carried it back to the living room. He didn't get far before almost dropping the couch. Violet eyes moved downward as a black and crimson form stirred on the ground.

"_**SHADOWWWW!**_" bellowed the Guardian.

"Hey, quiet down… I've gotta get my evil sleep…" the black hedgehog muttered.

"_Why _are you in _my _house?"

"Oh, yeah… that… um, I kinda forgot to pay rent… so now I have to find somewhere else to – Ow! Put me down!" Shadow squirmed helplessly as a mittened hand held him up by a gold wristband.

"Out. _Now._" Knuckles growled, baring his teeth. A few desparate rays of light snuck through the blinds in the living room window, giving the scarlet Guardian a very menacing background.

"Wait a minute…" Shadow said in a panicky voice. Knuckles' grip softened ever so slightly as he saw the fear in the Ultimate Lifeform's eyes. "Can I at least have a glass of apple juice?"

Five blocks away, the sound of an airborne, screaming hedgehog could still be heard.

Knuckles looked down at the prone form of Shadow on the kitchen floor. Carefully stepping over the stirring body, he opened the fridge and extracted the bottle of apple juice. Shadow managed to turn himself over at this point, crimson eyes on the beverage in the echidna's hand.

"So I ab getting that apple juice, thed?" the black hedgehog said, suddenly putting his hand on his bleeding nose. "Hey, why'd you have to go ad do that?"

"You bugged me…" the echidna snarled.

"It's godda be a while before you cad get that diploba thed…" Shadow sneered.

"Here's your apple juice," Knuckles said, a malicious grin on his muzzle. Slowly, he twisted the cap of the juice to the left and lifted it off. As the bottle tipped to pour over Shadow's face, the black hedgehog curled into a ball and launched himself through the living room. The echidna laughed as he watched the 'Ultimate Lifeform' try to open a window. "If there's one thing you can't stand, it's having those precious quills messed up… You're so vain…"

"Please, just let be stay here!" Shadow yelped. "I'll be good, I probise!" It was at this moment that the echidna stopped.

"They've turned you soft…" he mumbled. "Six weeks ago, you would've Chaos Speared my house until only the frame remained."

"I'b dot soft!"

"Face it. That Jimmy kid was wrong about that class. It makes you weak, not just controlled."

"There's dothing wrong with being calb!" Shadow shouted. His eyes grew ever wider as he seemed to realize what he was about to become. His eyes quickly narrowed and darkened. "I'll dever becobe weak." The black hedgehog breathed forcefully outward, sending a small spray of blood across the living room floor. "Now let me stay here, or I will use Chaos Slash to turn this story into a KnuxAmy romance."

"For the Emerald's sake, no!" the Guardian screamed. He lunged forward, extending a spiky fist. The black hedgehog disappeared before his eyes and reappeared to his left. To the Ultimate Lifeform's surprise, the echidna did not make a further attempt to pummel him. Instead, a knowing smirk crossed the Guardian's lips. "Good to have ya back, Shadow," he said, then, "If you're gonna stay here, I want 150 Rings a month for rent."

"Ha. Nothing these old sticky fingers can't find…" UL 2/23 never looked so happy.

"Great. Maybe they can find their way to hiding that ridiculous pin as well," Knuckles said with a chuckle.

"I hate you…" Shadow growled.

xxx

Sonic sat up on the couch and wiped cold sweat from his brow. He had been in the middle of his afternoon nap when an eerie, almost painful, sensation shot through his mind. It reminded him of a mixture between bad chili dogs and pink hedgehogs bearing flowers.

"I think I'd have to call that 'Shadow and Knuckles getting along'…" he said to himself. "I can't think of a creepier name for that feeling…" With that, the azure hero stood up, traversed the distance to the fridge for a chili dog or five, and resumed his nap on the couch.

xxx

"Come on, it'll be freakin' hilarious!" Hands bearing gold wristbands tugged at a scarlet arm.

"I'm not gonna help you play a prank on Tails!" the echidna bellowed. It had been two days since the hedgehog had moved into Knuckles' house, and it seemed that his life outside of robbing banks and killing bellboys was completely comprised of laziness and pranks.

"Will you at least just listen to the plan?" Shadow pleaded.

"Fine…" the Guardian growled.

xxx

Two sapients crept through the front yard of an orange, two-story house.

"_So we're gonna sneak in and paint him?_" Knuckles whispered hoarsely.

"_Not only that, we're gonna put _this _on him…_" Shadow grinned, scarlet eyes agleam in the dull moonlight. The hedgehog held up a short blonde wig, a sky-blue dress, and pink lipstick.

"_Then we'd better make it quick… This paint is heavy!_" Knuckles grunted, holding a can of paint in each hand and dragging one on his zigzagging tail. As they approached the house, Shadow led Knuckles to a particular window at the back. He set the clothes on the ground and held out his hand.

"_Chaos… Slash!_" The window immediately opened and sported a ladder for the anthropomorphs to climb. Once inside, they prepared the supplies. First, the black hedgehog extracted a syringe from a small metal case. He inserted the syringe into the sleeping amber fox on the bed.

"Son…Sonic…?" the two-tail murmured. Azure eyes fluttered for a moment, then dropped like anvils as the heavy sedative hit his system like an atomic bomb.

"_He's out,_" Shadow whispered with a malicious grin. "_Administer the paint._" Knuckles grinned widely at this. He set the three cans of paint down and opened one that read **SKY BLUE**. Working together, echidna and hedgehog painted and dried the kitsune's body until it looked like a permanent sky-blue. The Guardian then opened the can that said **HOT PINK**, and brushed the color onto the white tips of Tails' tails.

"_Good. Now for the yellow…_" Shadow hissed. He opened the can of **SUNSHINE YELLOW** paint and proceeded to spread it onto the rest of the rear appendages.

"_Well, that's taken care of…_" Knuckles sniggered, looking from a few feet away at the vibrant vulpine. The echidna reached down and picked up the bundle of clothes and separated the wig from it. "_Hold him up._" Shadow complied as Knuckles fitted Tails with the blonde hairpiece. The two Mobians then worked together to put the dress on the sleeping fox. Lastly, Knuckles held Tails still while Shadow applied the lipstick.

"_This is gonna be good…_" Shadow said, his voice rising slightly in excitement. The fox's eyes began to open again, so Shadow held out his hand and said, "_Chaos… Control!_" Time stopped, and the echidna and hedgehog jumped through the window to excape.

xxx

A gloved hand knocked on the front door of an orange house at about nine the next morning.

"Tails! Hey, li'l bro!" the hedgehog called. "If you wanna go fishing, you're gonna have to get up, like, right now!" When there was no answer, Sonic withdrew a key from his glove and unlocked the front door. The foyer was eerily quiet as red sneakers crossed the shiny linoleum floor.

"Hey, Tails! Tails?"

As the azure hero reached the hallway that led to the kitchen, living room, and bedroom, he noticed that the bedroom door was slightly ajar.

"It's not like him to leave a door open…" Sonic said to himself. "Little guy usually freaks out when you don't put your soda on a coaster…" The door slid slowly open as Sonic silently pushed it. Inspecting the room for traces of Robotnik attacks, the hero noticed several small paint stains on the tan carpet.

"Not like him to paint, either…" It was then that emerald eyes found a pink glass tube and an open metal case. Those same eyes had not bothered to see if their owner's adopted brother was even still in the room, and now blue legs hurried to the side of the bed that was shaped like a red airplane.

"Tails, Tails! Wake up! Wake –" Sonic jumped nearly six feet in the air. The inhabitant of the bed was not Tails, but a sky-blue vulpine with a shock of blonde hair.

"_Whoa!_ Didn't know Tails got himself a girlfriend!" At this, the blue fox opened its eyes and said, "Sonic, I don't have a girlfriend. Where would you get an idea like that?" Jade eyes became the size of dinner plates as the voice of Miles Prower exited the female fox's lips. The last thing visible to the kit was a hedgehog laughing before a loud thud could be heard.

"Sonic, are you okay?" Tails asked. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing… Let's go… fishing…" the blue blur rolled on the floor, holding his sides as his voice began to crack with laughter.

"Ugh… Whatever…" the kit said with a sigh. "Let's just go…" With that, he made a motion to stand up. This motion was curtailed, however, by some unknown binding on his legs. This didn't help the condition of the hedgehog, whose face began to turn purple as the laughing constricted his breathing.

"I didn't know… you switched pajamas…" Sonic gasped.

"What the Chaos is going on!" Tails screamed, now seeing that the binding on his legs was a dress of the same hue as the paint on his fur. A confused sound erupted from the vulpine's mouth, and he hopped off of the bed and over to the door, where a tall mirror hung on a hook. Upon gazing into its reflective depths, Tails noticed that he was indeed painted with bright colors, and that a wig and lipstick had been applied. "Sonic! What did you do?"

"I didn't do… anything… li'l bro…" Sonic gasped, now almost completely unable to breathe.

"I _have _to wash this off!" the poor fox kit bellowed. "I can't go fishing in _this_!"

"Sorry, Tails…" the hedgehog was now struggling to even make sound. "I… have to go to addiction therapy tomorrow…"

"What in the name of Mobius could you be addicted to?" the young fox was now becoming very angry, and patches of sky-blue gave way to crimson as the rage rose.

"Root beer…" Sonic was now taking very deep breaths while holding his side.

xxx

In a red brick house not three miles away from the fox's predicament, an echidna and a hedgehog sat at the kitchen table, drinking apple juice and eating potato chips. A speaker lay in the middle of the table, from which crackled the voices of Sonic and Tails. Sporadic bursts of laughter could be heard from the two eavesdroppers.

"Can you believe we pulled it off?" Shadow asked with an enormous smirk on his face.

"That was dangerous, but _man_, was it fun!" Knuckles shouted, guzzling more apple juice. A few more minutes passed, and the voices of Sonic and Tails could be heard arguing.

"Who could've done this?" came Tails' voice.

"I don't know…" crackled Sonic's.

"I don't think they'll _ever_ figure it out…" Shadow grinned.

"I can't imagine them finding evidence," Knuckles said with a mouth full of potato chips.

xxx

Tails walked slowly around the room, trying to search for evidence. As he passed Sonic, he looked at him and noticed that the azure hero seemed to be frightened of something.

"Hey, Sonic. What's wrong?" the kit asked.

"I just got another nasty sensation in my stomach. You think Shadow and Knuckles are getting along somewhere?"

"Nah…" Tails muttered. "It could never happen…"

* * *

**Well, there you have it, folks. An entire chapter of Knuckles goofing off at home. Next chapter, Knuckles' class gets visited by a giant! ****If you read, don't hesitate to review. I may respond in the next chapter!**

**Chapter 5: **_The Legend of the Guardian and Andy Taylor_


	5. The Legend of the Guardian and the Giant

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, faithful readers. I've been quite busy working on school stuff, so I haven't had the opportunity to write very much. Fear not, though, for I shall now dazzle you with… action!**

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Legend of the Guardian and the Giant**

"Chaos… _Control!_" The voice of the Ultimate Lifeform rang through the large campus of ISBVI as a flash of light brought hedgehog and echidna alike into presence.

"Nice…" Knuckles said, exhaling heavily. "That beats riding in the Blue Streak."

"I thought it might," Shadow replied with a grin.

"You gonna stick around for class?"

"Nah. I don't think anything funny is going to happen today. Think I might go make a withdrawal so I can pay rent…" With that, Shadow snapped his fingers and was gone, leaving Knuckles to enter the front doors. A minute later, he had arrived at the tower room.

"Good morning, Knuckles," said Mr. Schnieders happily. "Glad to see that you're still coming to this class."

"Well, if I want my truck back, I kinda _have _to…" the Guardian said, only a hint of resentment in his voice. Just then, the bell rang, and the students began arriving. It was the usual bunch of Mobians and humans, save for a couple of differences. Most noticeable was the seven-foot-tall human in the back. He wore a white Indiana Pacers T-shirt, dark blue shorts, a baseball cap, and a pair of dark sunglasses. Other minor changes in the group included an average-looking boy wearing a maroon leather trench-coat and a thin boy with short red hair.

"Is everyone here?" Mr. Schnieders asked. After several grumbling affirmations, He began the class. "We have a few new students today. Andy, Preston, Josh, why don't you all come up front here?" The three new students stood in front of the teacher's desk and introduced themselves.

"Andoo, what did you do this time?" Amanda asked.

"I punched Sexton…" said the seven-foot-tall student.

"You punched Jacob?" said the boy in the trench-coat.

"Did he bug you with his talk of tornadoes and cars?" asked a boy with short brown hair. "Or was it when we were playing a children's card game?"

"Will you shut up, Pangle?" said the red-haired boy.

"You shut up, McCash!" said the trench-coat boy.

"Prescilla, Josh, stop arguing," Amanda said firmly. "What did Julesy do to you, Andrew?"

"He said noof."

"You punched him for saying 'noof?'" said a tall boy with long dark hair. "Usually, I wait until he makes a Sonic reference before I chase him."

"Don't you chase anyone who makes a Sonic reference, Jordan?" said a tall boy with short, sandy hair.

"Yeah, I can't help it, Gilland…" replied Jordan. "Hey, Dylan. Remember that time that I chased him all the way to the Health Center?" The boy called Pangle nodded and laughed.

"Okay, y'all need to stop bein' self-referential an' shut up!" shouted a tall girl with long dark hair.

"Yeah, Mandy's trying to do maff," James said, looking starry-eyed at the girl.

"How long have you guys been going out, now?" jeered a boy with shaggy brown hair who appeared to be permanently surprised.

"We're _not _goin' out, Kane!" bellowed Mandy, who picked up the contraption she was typing on and hurled it at the offender. Andy jumped in the way and caught the heavy machine.

"Don't throw the freakin' Brailler, Mandy!" he shouted, placing it back on her desk.

"Are you sure you should get involved in that, Andy?" Knuckles asked, getting up and standing beside the gigantic teenager.

"Yeah, stay outta mah business, ya pig!"

"That's not very nice…" Dylan said quietly.

"Shut the _hell _up, Pet!" Mandy snapped. Dylan looked down sadly.

"Hey, you can't just go around yelling at people!" Knuckles shouted.

"Screw the rules, Ah have good looks!"

"Okay… now you can get involved…" Andy stood there, ready to defend anyone from Mandy's attacks. Just then, Mandy made a loud whistle, and a rotund boy with short hair and glasses burst through the door.

"Get 'em, Charlie!" Mandy yelled. Charlie nodded, and with nothing but a simple "Okay, Amanda…" he charged at Andy. Andy met the tackle with his solid posture, but Knuckles could see that he couldn't hold out for long. Thinking quickly, the echidna held his hands out, causing a giant emerald to appear.

"Andy, use the Master Emerald to become stronger!" the Guardian shouted. Andy jumped on top of the Emerald. With a flash of light, the gargantuan teen's dark hair and baseball cap were replaced with locks of gold, standing on end. Andy seemed to float as the transformation to Hyper Andy was complete.

"You think that'll stop mah man? Ha!" Mandy jeered. "Charlie, use the power of ISBVI itself!" Without a word, Charlie's blank, obedient stare became a look of pure concentration. The very floor began to shake, and sparks appeared around Charlie. The two colossal boys rushed forward, their strengths equally matched.

"All of this because she wanted to insult someone?" Gilland asked a stocky boy with white hair.

"See, Gilly… I know how Mandy is…" said the albino boy. "She thinks that every time someone tries to stop her from doing anything, she can just chuck Braillers at people."

"Adrian, you shouldn't talk when you don't know what you're saying," Jimmy said nonchalantly, ducking to avoid a bolt of energy shot from the struggle.

"Shut up, Jimmy!" Adrian bellowed. "I know what I'm talking about!"

"Doesn't sound that way to me," Gilland said, chuckling and rocking back and forth slightly.

"You tell him, Alex," Jimmy said with a smile. "You see, Adrian? You don't know what you're trying to say, so you dig into your reservoir of false confidence, becoming defensive to try and deter people from seeing that you're an idiot who has no point…"

"That's what the doctor said when you were born… 'There's no point.'" Adrian replied, chortling stupidly. It was apparent that he had the intention of being malevolently cunning, but everything seemed to stop as every single student stared at Adrian. Hyper Andy pushed Omega Charlie away and floated over to the albino and slapped him, sending him spinning.

"That wasn't funny," Hyper Andy said simply. "That was just plain stupid." Adrian finished spinning and fell flat onto his face, causing everyone in the room to laugh. Adrian looked up, his face red with rage (and blood from his nose).

"No, see, Andy… They just didn't laugh 'cause I'm the youngest," Adrian said, trying futilely to cover his own blunder. "If anyone else had said it, everyone in here would be laughing their asses off…" His defense was cut short by a roar from Omega Charlie as he charged at Hyper Andy once again. Hyper Andy simply moved out of the way, and Omega Charlie ran right into the wall, falling down on top of Adrian.

"_**AAAAAAGH**_!" screamed Adrian. "Get this fat… _guy_ off me!" The albino boy began to struggle, but ceased immediately when the loud sound of flatulence could be heard. Omega Charlie sat up and grinned.

"I'd have to say that kid got what was coming to him…" the black three-tailed fox said with a dark chuckle.

"You got that right!" Knuckles replied between laughs. Just then, the bell rang.

"All right, class! Time for second hour!" Mr. Schnieders shouted from under his desk. Everyone left except for Omega Charlie and Adrian.

xxx

"I bought you lunch!" shouted Sonic from the Blue Streak. The sports car looked freshly polished, and its driver stood on the front seat, holding up a paper bag.

"I don't know if I can eat…" Knuckles mumbled, holding his sides. "That was both scary _and _hilarious."

"I got grape soooooodaaaaa!" Sonic said, picking up a 2-liter bottle. This caught the echidna's eye, and he jumped inside the car, grasping the bag and bottle hungrily.

* * *

**Wow… I have no clue how I wrote this so fast, but I hope you enjoy this misadventure! I do a little more making fun of my classmates in this chapter than normal, but they shouldn't mind… (eyes dart) Anyway, I'd like to announce Nocturnus Hiatus, my newest concoction! It's a Sonic Chronicles adaptation. I hope to add lots of humor to it, so if you're a fan of this, check it out!**

**Next Chapter: **_Schnieders Unleashed_**!**


	6. Schnieders Unleashed!

**A/N: As I'm sure you know, I've finally chosen a type of pattern for updating my stories. And now, it's MTA's turn! I've been looking forward to writing this for a long time, so read it slow and soak up the action!**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Schnieders Unleashed!**

The time for revenge had come, and all of the plans were in place. Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik sat in his cushioned control chair, his mustachioed face buried in a book on highway systems. As the evil scientist studied the diagram of Indianapolis, he read aloud. The huge computer screen showed a very detailed chart, filled with notes on his latest scheme.

"The whole city runs on Meridian Street," stated the doctor in a monotone. A picture of the map appeared on-screen, and Meridian was marked with red.

"**IS THAT ALL, DOCTOR?**" a computerized voice asked.

"I think we have all we need…" Robotnik said with a chuckle. He dropped the book to rub his hands together maliciously. "We attack at dawn."

xxx

"Hey, Knuuuuux!" Shadow called from the kitchen at seven o'clock on Friday morning. The tired and disgruntled echidna poked his head around the side of the door to the living room.

"What do you want, Shadow?" Knuckles growled irritably. "I was _sleeping_."

"I made fried Flicky for breakfast," replied the Ultimate Lifeform simply.

"I don't care."

"You might as well wake up," Shadow pleaded. "Class starts at eight thirty, and I don't feel like Chaos Controlling you today."

"You prick," was all the Guardian had to say, but he got up and ate some stale potato chips for breakfast. As the clock neared eight, Sonic's annoying car horn could be heard, and Knuckles begrudgingly headed off to anger management.

xxx

"Good morning, class!" Mr. Schnieders greeted with an unusual burst of cheer. "Today, I thought we'd try doing some skits to relieve ourselves of some of the stress that our classmates might cause us."

"We've been bothering each other all this time, and you decide to do skits _now_?" asked the black fox in a confused tone.

"Well, Mayhem…" Schnieders began, scratching his head. "Until last Tuesday, nothing really bad happened."

"Didn't a fight happen in here about a week ago?" Alex asked as he inserted a piece of paper into a Braille-writer.

"Yeah," James said with a snorting laugh. "That was cool."

"You got stuck in here for the rest of the semester, and that's _cool_?" said a girl with long, dark blonde hair.

"You have to remember that James is easily amused, Rylie," Amanda told her.

"I think we're getting away from the point, kids," Mr. Schnieders said with a bit of irritation. "Now, everyone prepare a short skit involving an interaction you had with someone who irritates you. You all have five minutes, and after you perform your skit, we'll talk about how you could've handled the situation better." All of the students set to work, some loading the Braillers, and some setting up laptops. After a few minutes, the teacher stopped the brainstorming.

"First up, we'll have Amanda perform her scene," announced Schnieders. Amanda walked to the front, her guide dog, Connie, sniffing people's shoes as she passed. "Okay, what do have for us?" After a command from the short girl for Connie to stay put, a fake plant was pulled forward.

"This plant represents Jules," Amanda informed, placing an unfolded cane's loop on one of its branches. She crossed the room, retrieved Connie, and walked near the plant. "_**USE YOUR CANE, JULES!**_" she bellowed, punching the false tree's stem so hard that the top of the ornament snapped off.

"My, my!" proclaimed the gray-haired instructor. "You punched him for not using his cane?" A resounding giggle erupted from Andy. This skit was followed by a short speech on why violence is _never _the answer, and a few more skits performed by Andy, Kane, and Rylie. Andy's involved another fake plant and a recording that sounded like "Noof." The plant ended up broken. Kane's skit portrayed a scene in which he appeared to be trying a difficult song on the piano. The teacher (yet another plant) apparently tried to instruct him on how to improve. A resulting kick from Kane snapped the tree's spine. Rylie's skit consisted of her and her boyfriend, Kyle, watching American Idol. Rylie found out that there was already a blind contestant on the show, and shook Kyle (a plant) so hard that it broke.

"Well, now that all my plants are gone – " Schnieders was interrupted suddenly by a huge _bang_ that came from somewhere downtown.

"What was that?!" Andy shouted, looking around.

"If I had a guess…" Knuckles mumbled, remembering how Sonic had found one of Eggman's bases near the city. Just as the thought of the blue hero crossed the echidna's mind, the board that had previously patched the hole in the window flew into the room, and an azure ball uncurled, revealing the agile rodent.

"Hey, kids!" the hedgehog cheered jauntily. "Anyone wanna help save Indianapolis?" Several cheers erupted from the room. A few seconds later, Tails had flown in, panting feverishly.

"Sonic…" the amber fox spluttered. "I told you… I can't keep up…"

"Sonic, Tails!" Knuckles shouted happily, a plan for escaping the skit exercise forming in his mind. "What's going on?"

"Just look!" Tails implored, producing a portable satellite TV. The device was set on the news channel, and the current story showed a massive airship. The vessel could be seen dropping things onto a busy street below, and the objects bared a disturbing resemblance to a familiar nemesis's face.

"Eggman!" Knuckles growled. "Where's he attacking?"

"Downtown Indy," said Sonic shortly. "We need at least four people to help us take down the Egg-sterminator, but we can't find Shads!"

"How can we take down something we can't reach?!"

"We have these," the fox presented cheerily, holding up four elastic wristbands with flashing green lights. "Teleporter bands!" The sound of one's throat being cleared caught the three Mobians' attention. Sonic and Tails turned around to see Mr. Schnieders holding out his hand.

"Schnieders, you want to help?" the Guardian asked incredulously. "But you're so _old_."

"You know, Knuckles…" the teacher replied slowly. "I might not be as young as you three are, but I used to be quite the athlete."

"C'mon, Knux!" pleaded Sonic. "The more, the merrier, after all!"

"Yeah!" Tails chimed in. With a reluctant nod from Knuckles, the aged instructor was given the spare teleporter band.

"Oh, could you hold onto this bag for me?" Sonic asked, handing Schnieders a small knapsack.

xxx

An enormous orange moustache shook as its rotund owner laughed heartily in satisfaction.

"This is _perfect_!" Robotnik cried, spinning in his swivel chair. "I hadn't expected to cause such chaos, but one teensy attack utterly discombobulated the entire city!" The night before, Eggman had completed the Egg-sterminator, a battleship worthy of the description "invincible." The behemoth of an aircraft stretched over five hundred feet long, and three hundred feet wide. The gray and black surface was protected well by several laser turrets on the outer edge of the main deck, and a huge control tower about twenty feet tall marked the very center of the craft. The front of the awesome vessel was beautifully designed to look like its glorious creator. Now, in the heat of the afternoon, the powerful airship drifted lazily through the skies over Indianapolis, dropping its Egg Bombs on Meridian Street and some of its intersecting avenues. The US Air Force had tried to bring the Egg-sterminator down, but their puny machine guns and high-powered missiles were no match for the new invention's Egg Ray. The tiny planes had been incinerated by the powerful energy beam, causing hundreds of lives. "This couldn't possibly go wrong now!" shouted the doctor. At that moment, four figures appeared on the main deck. Several laser turrets turned to fire at them, but the blasters were too tall, so quite a few of them ended up destroying other turrets.

xxx

"Let's go, team!" Sonic shouted, dashing toward the ugly control tower.

"Boy, don't _that_ sound familiar?" Knuckles sighed, keeping pace with Tails. The ragtag group of heroes kept to a tight diamond formation, allowing them to easily pass through the barrage of laser fire. Then again, it's not like the lasers had any probability of hitting them.

"I don't get it…" wondered Tails as he ran.

"What is it, Tails?" Sonic asked, grabbing a few spare Rings that were lying on the ground.

"It seems like Eggman hadn't counted on in infiltration assault at all…" Tails mused. "almost like he completely forgot to figure us in."

"Who cares if he thought of us?" Knuckles shouted.

"It's just suspicious." His worries came to fruition as several Egg Pawns were pushed up through circular holes in the deck.

"_This _didn't happen last time…" Sonic groaned. His fears were assuaged as Schnieders leapt into the air, landing in between two of the enemies. The Pawns instantly rushed forward, trying to seize the elderly educator. He responded by jumping over one and grabbing it. The drone was then thrown at its cohort, destroying both in a very small explosion.

"Nice one, Mr. Schnieders!" Sonic called, Spin Dashing into three of the Pawns.

"Call me Dave!" replied Dave as he picked up another robot and tossed it up, where it exploded due to laser fire.

xxx

"Curses, _curses_, _**curses**_!" Eggman roared, slamming his fist into the keyboard. "Those fools shouldn't even be here! How did they get past the lasers?!" The scene of battle was visible in front of the doctor, and the team of wretched heroes was easily picking the proverbial bones of his army clean. Already, he had lost half of his starter team, and they would soon reach the control tower.

"**DOCTOR, WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACTIVATE PLAN 'HEADACHE'?**" the mechanical voice of Robotnik's computer asked.

"No," he hissed. "I'll soon have them _right _where I want them…"

* * *

**Well, it took half a school week, but I finally got Chapter 6 done. I don't think it's very long, but it's probably the most development this story's gotten in a long time.**

**Next Chapter:** _Last Chapter, Part 1_


	7. Last Chapter: Part 1

**A/N: Due to an increase in popularity of this story (and certain girls telling me to update constantly), I've been rather hurried in updating through my list. In honor of Sammie Weisenbach, I will announce that Manage Thy Anger will be exactly twelve chapters in total. Three of these will be Last Chapter, and three will be interludes and the ending. Now, enjoy the first of Last Chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Last Chapter: Part 1**

The door of the Egg-steminator's control tower slid open as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Dave surged through. They were surprised to find that there were no robots here in the dark foyer. The opening hallway seemed to spread all the way around the tower's head, and a huge door stood in front of where the nose was on the outside. As the team ran through the door, they were faced with a huge robot.

"You again!" cried the obese man from the cockpit of the four-legged machine. "I won't have you ruining my plans this time, Sonic!"

"You wish you could stop me from stopping you, Eggman!" the hedgehog shouted jubilantly. "Let's get him, guys!" Tails and Knuckles ran forward, each aiming to attack the front legs of the new enemy. Robotnik laughed menacingly and punched a button, causing several spiked balls to drop from a hatch in the robot's midsection. The spheres rolled toward the heroes, but the fox and echidna jumped from their course. The legs now sported many fancy dents and punctures.

"No!" Eggman bellowed. "Take this!" Another button was pressed, and the machine transformed, the legs melting into the body and the back planting itself into the floor. The cockpit turned itself to fit the new, snake-like robot, and a few missile pods opened on all sides. Sonic ran forward, and several of the pods shot. The blue daredevil leaped into the air and performed Homing Attacks on the projectiles. As the spiky ball bounced off of the exploding points, the metal snake reared back. A large, beak-like spike grew from the front of the cockpit, and the robot snapped down. The point barely missed Sonic, and the hedgehog landed a clean slash into the glass of the cockpit. The entire machine flashed, and it began to transform again.

"Do his machines normally do this?" Dave asked, gazing at the new form. It was an anthropomorphic tank, and the missile pods had moved to its forearms. At the end of its right arm was a giant cupped claw, and the point on the robot's head melted, becoming two yellow "eyes."

"Usually, Eggman's last resorts are a one-form thing," Knuckles replied. "For some reason, he's thrown out all the stops this time."

"Damn right, I have!" cackled Robotnik. The eye-like parts fired several short laser bursts, and the team scattered. Dave ran forward, dodging the laser blasts. Eggman lowered the right arm to catch the elder hero, but Dave was too quick for him. He reached the robot's leg and grabbed a sort of handhold, and then he began to climb. "Stop it!" roared the scientist, but Dave was already near the chest.

"Go, Dave, go!" Tails cheered from his position in the air. Dave looked back, nodded, and continued his climb. His progress was impeded, however, by the chest's opening. Out of the midsection grew a large cannon, but Schnieders just used the square segment of metal as a new platform to stand on.

"Fire Egg Ray Jr.!" Eggman commanded, and a huge white beam emerged from the cannon.

"Scatter!" Sonic shouted, and all three Mobians ran to different places. The beam cut a clean hole in the control room, but Robotnik persisted. The robot turned, causing the huge attack to rip a big section of the wall to atoms. The assault was too late, though, because Dave was already balancing on the rim of the cockpit.

"What are you doing?!" bellowed Robotnik.

"Taking you down!" Schnieders answered. The teacher reached into the knapsack that hung on his back and retrieved an aqua-green gem. "Chaos Spear!" The bolt of energy seemed to come from nowhere, but its aim was true. The robot flashed again as the pointed shot crashed into the cockpit window. To Dave's surprise, the supporting shell he was standing on collapsed, and the cockpit flew away. It wasn't really a part of the machine, that was for sure. It looked as though Eggman had tailored an old one-person aircraft to use as the new contraption. The egg-shaped pod flew around the room, and Eggman laughed as he pressed several buttons.

"Let's see how well you can fight me when I'm in the air!" the doctor taunted. The collapsed form of his machine seemed to jump into the air and form around the pod. When the transformation completed, the robot resembled a helicopter with six legs and a very long tail. The legs were tipped with small holes that glowed yellow, and the flat, rectangular tail dragged across the floor. The helicopter thing buzzed around, and lasers shot from the legs.

"I'll take care of this!" volunteered Sonic as they all ran from the stinging shots. The hedgehog dashed around the room, catching Eggman's eye and making the machine swivel on its servos. Before it could catch the azure hero, he had jumped to the tail's end. A blue blur zipped up the long tail, and the rotor blades spun faster. A wave of wind emitted from the blades, so strong that it shone white as it whooshed toward Sonic. The wave was nowhere near Sonic in the next instant, for the speedy hedgehog had already found his perch on the central pole of the helicopter. Sonic charged a Spin Dash and launched it, smashing into the cockpit and making it flash again.

"Grrrrrrah! I hate you, Sonic the Hedgehog!" screamed Robotnik, punching a new button. "No matter how many times you hit this machine, you'll never take down the Egg Morpher!"

"Can't you come up with _anything_ better?" Sonic taunted as he bounced off of the almost liquid exterior of the Egg Morpher. The transforming robot shifted again, becoming nothing but the pod surrounded by six spiked metal spheres. The spheres spun slowly, being held together somehow by artificial gravity.

"I'll show _you_ better!" retorted Eggman. The balls rotated faster, and one of them shot out, meant to crush his blue nemesis. Sonic ran in the same rotation as the spheres and drew the projectile. The sphere seemed to try and hit Sonic, even as it returned home. This reaching sensation caused the ball to hit another, which bounced into the pod. The sphere exploded and the pod flashed madly.

"Too easy!" Sonic jeered. Before he could run off, Eggman had caught the hedgehog in a pyramid-like light-trap.

"Sonic!" Tails shouted. The fox ran forward and dodged another ball. Tails performed Sonic's same maneuver, and another ball hit Robotnik's escape pod. The kit laughed merrily, but not befoe he, too, was trapped. Knuckles looked at the pyramids that matched the other sapients' colors, and knew that because it would not do much harm to go for the attack, the echidna rushed forward and drew one of the remaining balls out. Knuckles wasn't the fastest of the team. In fact, Sonic and Tails had often beaten him at races. Still, he was able to make the protruding projectile into one of the other three, forcing it to slam into Eggman.

"Hah! You'll never defeat me, Sonic! I've trapped all of you!" There was the sound of a throat being cleared. "What?!" Robotnik demanded, whirling the hovercraft around to see Schnieders.

"You forgot that Sonic brought an extra along…" Dave reminded the scientist.

"I'll just trap you, too!" cried Eggman triumphantly. He pressed the button that shot one of the traps. The pod clicked. This gave the old teacher the opportunity to run forward. "I'll have you yet, old-timer!" One of the spiked balls shot out, and Schnieders led it along the expanded path of its brothers. The sphere pulled back, but it missed the other two spinning balls. Eggman cackled and launched another attack, this time also shooting a bolt of lightning at the instructor. Dave barely dodged the electrical attack, and he continued to run to keep the ball moving. This time, the spiky sphere bumped another of its kind. The third-to-last ball crashed into Robotnik's cockpit, causing several small explosions to appear in the air near the closed pod.

"You can't get away with this!" cried Dave, breathing heavily.

"This isn't the end!" the doctor howled, the two remaining spheres exploding as he flew out of a hatch in the wall. The pyramids disappeared, and Team Sonic rushed to Schnieders' side.

"All right, Dave!" Tails cheered, hovering up and clapping the aged man on the back.

"You saved our bacon back there, pal," Sonic complimented.

"I knew you wouldn't let us down…" said Knuckles flatly.

"Well, I guess we can go home now…" Dave mused. The three Mobians nodded, and they made their way to the exit.

* * *

**It's probably not as thrilling as the fight between Blade and the Green Guardian, but I wrote this thoughtfully. I've planned the battle in the fashion of most Sonic games, but it's most like Sonic Unleashed and a bit like Sonic Rush, in that the attack patterns change and there are multiple parts to the fight. Well, enjoy!**

**Next Chapter:** _Green Thumb_


	8. Green Thumb

**A/N: I know that most of you just want the fight between Team Sonic + Schnieders to happen already, but this interlude was really kinda fun for me to write. It should be nothing compared to the next one, but I'll let you all judge on that.**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Green Thumb**

The bell rang at promptly eight o'clock, but the usual anger management students seemed to wash lazily into the tower room like calm morning waves on the beach. It was most likely because of the announcement that morning stating that Mr. Schnieders would not be in.

"Hey, that means we can go to the library!" Andy cheered when the teacher's replacement read the morning news.

"No you don't," replied the man reading the computer screen. "I'm gonna fill in for _all _of Dave's classes, and that includes anger management." Several resounding groans could be heard, but the seats gradually filled nonetheless. "Good morning, class!" greeted the substitute in his loud, gravelly voice. "My name is Mr. Gaczko, and I'll be your teacher while Mr. Schnieders is gone."

"Is Mr. Schnieders still fighting Eggman?" Alex asked.

"Fighting who?" inquired a thin girl with short brown hair. "Wait – Mr. Schnieders… fighting?"

"Yeah!" James shouted excitedly. "Sonic was here, and Knuckles left with him and Tails, and Schnieders went, too!"

"Hey, let's keep the run-on sentences to a minimum, huh?" Amanda suggested. James nodded.

"Sammie, how did you get in this class?" Mandy asked in her slight Southern voice.

"I'm in here 'cause of Nathan…" the shorthaired girl replied sulkily.

/O\

Sammie ambled to a table in the cafeteria, her mind occupied with classes, prom, and chores to do at the house that afternoon. The day had been a bit hectic; Preston was being his usual annoying self in math, and Jake hadn't been very helpful in horticulture. To top that off, Luke and Daugherty disrupted history class until Dr. Mathews actually yelled, and they repeated the process with Jordan's help in English with Mrs. Durst. All of this had boiled down to Sammie getting immense amounts of homework from Mrs. Squire, Dr. Mathews, and Mrs. Durst, and she was _not _happy about it. She took the seat between Nathan and Dylan, hoping that some lunchtime humor would cheer her up.

"Who's that?" asked Nathan, a tall boy with very short, dark hair. He was the one who caused a lot of the trouble at the lunch table, but he was still a nice guy.

"It's me," Sammie answered. Both of them were blind, but most people at ISBVI learned to recognize their friends by their voices.

"Oh, hey Sammie," put in Dylan, another boy who preferred his hair short. Dylan liked to make references to a lot of things that Sammie had never heard of, but he wasn't without his own charm. Usually, he could be seen with Britney, as they were practically dating, but that didn't stop the two from being social with others.

"Hey, Dylan!" returned Sammie happily. "What do we have for lunch, you guys?"

"I don't know…" said a tall girl from across the table. She had long dirty-blonde hair, and her voice was a clear alto. She passed a bowl of nondescript substance to an albino boy on her right, and he passed it to Nathan.

"Holy dead babies, why are we having beef stew for lunch?!" Nathan shouted, shoving the bowl to the middle of the table.

"Nathan Noble!" Sammie shrieked in disgust. She turned to glare at him, but her eyes drifted up toward the lighted ceiling.

"Shut up, Sammie…" retorted Nathan, rocking back and forth slightly as he did so.

"I will _not _shut up, Nathan! You always say the most inappropriate things!" yelled Sammie. She hit him in the arm slightly, and he responded by pushing her out of her chair. Sammie simply got up, found Nathan's chair, and kicked him in the side.

"All right, that's it Sammie!" Nathan bellowed, leaping out of his chair and striking a menacing pose. Sammie balled her hands into fists and put them up to cover her face and Nathan charged forward. The tension could have cut with a knife at that moment.

That is… until Nathan ran right past Sammie and hit a table.

"That's enough!" boomed a commanding voice from the middle of the room as Nathan recovered and prepared to charge again. The owner of that voice grabbed the tall total by the shirt and pulled him over to Sammie. "What's going on, you two?" asked the daytime counselor, Dr. St. John.

"Sammie attacked me!" Nathan cried, not quite pulling off the right impression of one who is wronged.

"Somehow, I think it went a little differently than that…" the doctor said sternly. "Regardless, I want both of you to be at Mr. Schnieders' anger management class first thing tomorrow morning. I'll send your teachers an email telling them that you'll be gone every Tuesday and Friday for the next six weeks."

\O/

"Well, that's a little unfair!" commented a stocky boy with longish brown hair.

"Shut up, Sexton," Andy said simply.

"Now you kids need to pipe down, okay?" Mr. Gaczko cut in. "It's time for me to start teaching, anyway. Today, we're going to the greenhouse to work with Mrs. Garvey's class." There were several groans.

"It's not that bad," Charlie consoled.

"Yeah, it'll be a great way to help with our anger…" Shadow mumbled. Those students who could see (and some who couldn't) turned to face the black hedgehog.

"You're back in here, Shadow?" asked Kane. "What'd you do now?"

"It's a long story that involves psychology, Chaos Emeralds, and one very disturbed individual…" explained Shadow. "But that's a tale for another day."

"He's right," agreed Gaczko. "We've got to get going, or Mrs. Garvey might lock us out."

xxx

"Good morning, everyone!" sang a cheerful voice as the class arrived at the greenhouse. The place was of a good size for a school greenhouse, but it seemed as though two whole classes would be a little cramped inside. The woman greeting the populous was a slight woman with a thin face and dirty-blonde hair.

"Good morning, Mrs. Garvey," several of the human students returned.

"Well, I see there are some familiar faces here!" Mrs. Garvey said happily. She turned to her class, a group of about ten students, and started to explain. "Mr. Schnieders' anger management class has agreed to come work with us on some greenhouse jobs today, class!"

"I like the black hedgehog…" said a tall boy with short tan hair.

"Good, 'cause I hate you…" Shadow retorted in the same mellow timbre.

"Don't be mean to Shane!" Amanda scolded. Shadow merely shrugged and grunted.

"Why don't you all introduce yourselves?" Mrs. Garvey suggested, gesturing to the two groups. The anger management class stepped forward and recited their names.

"Shadow."

"Mayhem."

"Alex."

"Sammie."

"Rylie."

"Kane."

"Andrew."

"Amanda."

"Mandy."

"Jake."

"Preston."

"Josh."

"Jimmy."

"Nathan."

"Charlie."

"James."

Mrs. Garvey's class greeted them with several hellos and other random salutations, and they stepped forward to introduce themselves.

"Shane," said the boy who had commented at Shadow.

"Uh… uh… uh… Jacob…" an ugly boy said as a thick river of drool spluttered from his mouth.

"I'm ready for horticulture…" announced a short girl with wavy dark hair.

"No, Steffanie, your name…" advised Mrs. Garvey.

"Oh. Steffanie Cabral!" the girl shouted.

"I am Hyuuga Hinata," a girl of about medium height said with a bow.

"I'm Tony," a student with short blonde hair said.

"Tara…" a short girl with long brown hair informed sleepily.

"I didn't know you were in here, Tara!" shrieked a girl with pixie-cut blonde hair excitedly. "Oh, and I'm Lexi, by the way."

"They call me Britney Lynn," introduced a girl with shoulder-length blonde hair.

"You don't wanna know my name…" said a tall dark boy.

"Don't be silly, Donald," Mrs. Garvey. "Introduce yourself like everyone else."

"Fine… I'm Donald…" he consented.

"SMC. Sienna Morgan Craig," recited a tall girl who kept waggling her head left and right.

"Well, now that we all know each other, let's go inside and get some work done!" Mrs. Garvey encouraged. "There's a lot that needs doing before the plant sale, you know!" She and Mr. Gaczko herded the huge class inside of the greenhouse. The process took a few minutes, considering that some of the students needed to be guided in. The inside of the facility was divided into several parts. On one end there was a table filled with soil. Continuing down the length of the greenhouse, one could see a table and chairs, a sink for washing hands, and three rows of benches filled with all kinds of plants. "All right, everyone, let's get into five groups, and I'll give each group a task," announced the cheerful instructor. "First group is… Shadow, Lexi, Sienna, Shane, and… Jake." The five students assembled in front of Mrs. Garvey. "I think I'll have you guys working on mixing up some soil, so why don't Shadow and Jake get the bales onto the dolly, while Lexi, Sienna, and Shane can start on the soil that's already on the soil bench?" The group split up immediately.

"Why do _we _have to do the soil-carrying?" Shadow grumbled as he and the one called Sexton made their way to the back of the greenhouse.

"It's not that bad, Shadow," assured Jake. "You get to use a trowel and cut things open." A large grin creased Shadow's muzzle.

"Maybe that Shane kid…"

"As funny as that would be, we can't afford to have you spending your whole life in anger management," Jake chided. Shadow merely grunted. They arrived at the back door of the greenhouse, and Jake showed Shadow a rolling device and several square packages marked **PRO-MIX**.

"Screw that!" smirked Shadow, waving his hand at the dolly. "I've got a much better idea." He turned to the bales of soil, closed his eyes, and shouted, "Chaos…** BLAST!**" A small explosion ensued, causing the packages to soar through the air toward the soil bench. The students who hadn't been grouped yet screamed and ran in all different directions. One of the huge cubes looked like it was on a crash course right for Tara's head, but it came to a skidding, sliding halt before it could hit her. Another flew right into the front wall, which seemed to be comprised entirely of corrugated cardboard. The wall resisted for a moment, and then it gave in to the pushing bale of soil. The last bundle cruised through the air, bounced off of the middle bench and knocked over several flats of plants, and landed right in the soil bench. The resulting spray of potting material covered all three of the students in flecks of dirt, while the rest of the wave landed on the floor. Jake and Shadow laughed hysterically as Mrs. Garvey rushed over to the distraught students.

"Oh, now look what happened…" she lamented.

"It's just dirt…" said Lexi, scratching her head.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Mrs. Garvey corrected. "It's only dirt when it hits the ground. Until then, it's clean, sterile soil. See how nice it feels?" The odd teacher ran her hands through the white-flecked substance. Shane repeated the maneuver absent-mindedly.

"I like it. It's cute!" the strange boy gushed.

"I wish I was in OM today…" Sienna muttered. "I prefer OM to this…"

"Sienna, what in the world is OM?" Mrs. Garvey inquired, giving the young girl a sidelong glance.

"It's what I call O & M," she replied. "Do you think I'll get to listen to the radio today?"

"Who knows?" wondered Lexi. Quietly, she walked over to the radio and flipped it on. A soft rock song began to play.

"Okay, let's get you all into groups," continued Mrs. Garvey. "Next I'll have… Rylie, Andy, Steffanie, and Jacob join me at the table here, and we're going to transplant some wandering Jew into hanging baskets." Rylie, Andy, and Jacob immediately found the table, but Steffanie just stood there.

"Come on, Stephanie Mills!" Jacob coaxed in a slightly higher voice than before. He had a ridiculous tone to his voice that sounded a lot like he was talking down to her.

"I'm coming, Jacob Lynch!" the short girl assured him. "Okay, Steff, go to the table…"

"Don't talk to yourself and just walk over here," Andy instructed. Steffanie walked slowly to the work area and sat down in a chair. On the table were several baskets of thick vine-like plants.

"Okay, now what we're going to do is take the ends of these stems, and we're going to just snap them off like this," the teacher said. She took hold of one of the leafy ends of the wandering Jew, and she bent it back with a quick _snap_. Each student took a basket and began working.

"Ew, this is so nasty!" Rylie laughed as she wiped the slimy sap from the plants onto the table.

"Ah, get over it, Rylie," Andy said.

"Shut up, Andy," retorted the blonde girl. She took one of the stem cuttings, reached up, and shoved it in the giant's face.

"Hey!" Steffanie scolded in a surprisingly sharp tone. "There is _no_ fighting in horticulture class!" Rylie and Andy simply laughed.

"I can be your villain, baby…" sang Jacob, taking a slobbery breath. "I'll accentuate your pain…" The ungraded boy began slapping his legs in slow rhythm with the song.

"Hey, Jacob," Andy said. There was no answer. "Jacob." This cry for attention was still ignored, though it was a little louder. "Jacob! Listen to me you f – " There was a sudden burst of sound from somewhere near the back of the greenhouse that sounded like someone saying the letter "F" very loudly. " – king sped!"

"What do you want, Andy?" answered Jacob with a ridiculous attempt at a Western twang. He started to laugh stupidly.

"Ew…" Rylie groaned as Jacob started singing again.

"It's time to play the quiet game," commanded Andy. Jacob immediately shut his mouth and stopped singing.

"I think I want… Donald, Charlie, Nathan, Hinata, and James to work on trimming shrubs outside," Mrs. Garvey announced. The five students followed her outside. "Okay, here are the burning bushes that I want you guys to trim down," continued the teacher. "Just take about a foot off of each branch, okay?" With that, she left. Charlie and Hinata picked up pairs of shears and started cutting, but James, Donald, and Nathan just sat down. James took a laptop from a bag at his side and started surfing the Internet.

"James, why aren't you helping?" Charlie asked, his face getting a little red with irritation. "Mrs. Garvey expects us to get this done, and Hinata and I can't do it alone."

"Hold on, I'm just reading some fan-fiction…" the hippie mumbled, clicking a link that marked a story about Naruto and Sonic being in a romantic relationship.

"How are you getting wireless out here?" wondered Donald as he eyed the laptop greedily.

"Oh, I've got a special card that allows me to pick up Wi-Fi anywhere," James answered proudly. A worried look suddenly crossed his face. "Hey, can you watch my stuff while I go to the bathroom, Donald?" Donald nodded, and James ran off.

"N-N-Nathan, could y-you pile up th-th-th-those cuttings, please?" Hinata suggested politely. Nathan sighed, got up, and starting putting the severed branches in a heap. While they were all working, Donald quickly withdrew his own laptop from his backpack, put James' computer in its place, and set his own on the ground.

xxx

"Okay, Shadow. All you have to do is cut off this little piece right here…" Jake instructed as he sliced open a bale of soil. The stuff stayed in one dry, solid block. The ebon hedgehog picked up a sharp shining trowel and began hacking away at the soil. "That's the spirit!" said Jake in a dramatic bass. He, too, picked up a tool and started cutting through the pot filler.

"I like you…" Shane said, sliding toward Lexi. He reached toward her arm and starting rubbing it absent-mindedly. This did not go on for very long before a sizable chunk of soil flew into his face from Jake's direction. Lexi let out a burst of loud bubbly laughter as Jake and Shadow high-fived.

"Our next group will be planting some sapphire impatience, and that group will be…" announced Mrs. Garvey. "Sammie, Mayhem, Mandy, and Josh." The humans and fox followed her to the back area, where they gathered around the middle bench. On it were several flats filled with soil, and one giant grid of small plants. Mrs. Garvey left to take care of the last group, and the foursome got to work.

"I'd much prefer these if they were black and spotted with red…" Mayhem grumbled.

"That would be so _gross_!" squealed Sammie.

"Honey, you gotta learn to just tolerate stuff, ya know?" Mandy said, not unkindly.

"Yeah, Amanda would know about that," commented Josh. "She deals with Charlie's smell all the time." He started to laugh, but a fist came into contact with the side of his head before he could really enjoy the moment.

"Serves him right for being so blatantly rude…" the black fox sneered.

"Whah, thank you, Mayhem!" cried Mandy, going to embrace the three-tailed vulpine.

"I'm not a very huggy person…" advised Mayhem. She nodded and returned to her plants.

"That was so mean of you, Amanda!" Sammie scolded. "How could you punch Josh like that? I bet he's got a concussion now!"

"I can check for that," Mayhem volunteered. He knelt down to where Josh lay and turned the redhead's cranium to look at the spot where he'd been punched. "Nah, his lights are just out." Sammie gave a sigh of relief. A bout of arguing suddenly blasted from the soil bench, where Sienna and Shane were fighting over a small block of soil.

"You have to let me cut it up!" whined Sienna.

"But it's cute!" Shane pleaded. "I wanna sniff it!" Another dirt clod sailed through the air and hit Shane.

"Nice one, Lexi!" Jake cheered, hugging her. The grin on the blonde's face could easily never diminish. Meanwhile, Shadow was keeping himself busy by using a combination of Chaos Blast and Chaos Control to separate the soil very efficiently. In the middle of one of these maneuvers, Jake poked the black rodent in the arm, causing the blast to be lopsided. The soil sprayed in a concentrated beam that hit Jacob square in the back of the head. This resulted in a resounding explosion of laughter from Andy. Jacob simply continued singing his slow love song and drooling, but Steffanie joined in with the enormous teenager's mirth with her own snorting giggles.

"What are you talking about?" the blind girl laughed. "I'm _always_ ready for horticulture!"

xxx

"Okay, I'm back!" James said with an air of relief as he sat back down to finish his reading. "Where'd Donald go?"

"He said he had a pass to go back to his first hour class…" answered Nathan dully as he picked up an armful of cuttings. "Hey, do you think we could roast babies with these if they were sharpened?"

"Th-that's _terrible_!" Hinata boomed. "How c-c-could you talk about r-r-r-roasting _babies_?!"

"Same way I can talk about putting 'em in blenders," Nathan grinned. The pale-eyed girl turned on him, reached into her pocket, and threw a sharp star-shaped object. The shuriken whizzed past Nathan's head and landed in the dirt just two inches away from James' leg.

"Dude, that is _not _cool!" complained the hippie.

"I'm so s-s-sorry!" Hinata cried. James looked up at her in surprise.

"Why, what'd you do?" he asked. "I wasn't paying attention, 'cause I was so mad about losing my Wi-Fi signal. Hey… come to think of it… this isn't my laptop!"

xxx

Donald crept into the greenhouse, his eyes shifting from one group to another. Realizing that Charlie had left his own laptop inside, the young thief made his way sneakily to the abandoned bag and placed the stolen computer inside. It was a snug fit, but it worked. As quickly as he had come, Donald was gone.

"Now, I'm going to have the rest of you go back to D Dorm, where we'll sow some seeds for the plant sale," Mrs. Garvey informed. "Mr. Gaczko will take you all back, while I stay here and check up on our other groups." Alex, Kane, Amanda, Preston, Jimmy, Tony, Tara, and Britney followed the substitute teacher out of the greenhouse. At the soil bench, most of the group watched as Jake used two matching trowels to expertly slice and dice a large chunk of the dry soil. As he worked, the slightly sharp tools flew through the air and flashed in the diffused sunlight.

"Who do you think you are, Sir Gawain?" mumbled Shadow.

"Sometimes I'd like to think so…" Jake answered, flicking one of the trowels and chopping three blocks of potting material into a fine consistency.

"So how is it that you can do all these fancy tricks with sharp objects, but you can't see well enough to know when I've stopped walking in the halls?" asked Lexi sardonically.

"That's not fair…" complained Jake as he dropped the trowels. Lexi merely smiled and took his hand in hers. At the transplanting table, Andy and Rylie had finished several baskets apiece, while Steffanie and Jacob couldn't have a complete one if they combined all of their total work.

"You need to get some work done, Steffanie," Andy said gently.

"Come on, Steff, get to work…" she replied slowly.

"And, uh… Michaels is givin' me a country-western quiz over Spring Break…" said Jacob to no one in particular. "I heard he's also gonna stick some Van Halen questions in there…" The last statement caused him to giggle girlishly for some reason.

"You lose," scolded Andy. Jacob took no notice and continued rambling something about Preston and being late.

xxx

"Pricilla, you were supposed to sow the bell pepper seeds!" Amanda yelled as Preston continued sprinkling bright yellow seeds into a pot.

"What?" asked the smelly student. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention…" All the rest of the students were working busily in D Dorm, and several dozen pots were already germinating on the heat pads in the lab. In each room, the TVs broadcasted the news of Eggman's latest scheme. In the main room, Jimmy, Tara, and Alex sat watching (or listening, in Alex's case) to the program.

"And so, it seems the Egg-sterminator's course has come to a halt for now," said the baritone newscaster. "I'm Tom Tucker, and this is Channel 6 News."

"Does this mean they've won?" Tara asked. Jimmy shook his head.

"I highly doubt it, given Robotnik's usual plans," the redhead answered. "He may have stopped bombing Indianapolis, but he's got something else up his sleeve." Just then, Donald rushed through the building toward the quad.

"Where do you think _you're_ going?" asked Tara playfully.

"_I'm_ going to… uh… the Health Center!" Donald said, holding his stomach in a bad impression of being sick. He continued his mad dash to the door.

"This just in," said a female voice from the TV. "It appears that the control tower of the Egg-sterminator has begun to collapse. We were finally able to get our Channel 6 copters up to the site, and it looks like the day has been saved by Team Sonic."

"Hey, they're forgetting Mr. Schnieders!" yelled Alex.

"I'm getting reports now that Team Sonic has been accompanied by what appears to be a man of middle age or higher," the reporter announced. "Unfortunately, we cannot reach them for comment, but our eyes in the sky are telling us that he looks like one of the teachers at the local blind school. This is Diane Simmons, Channel 6 News." Just then, the PA system made its familiar trilling call for attention.

"Could Donald Montgomery and Charlie Johnson please report to Mr. Wilson's office?" said the mellow voice of the announcer. "Donald Montgomery and Charlie Johnson to Mr. Wilson's office, please."

xxx

"How could this happen?!" Mrs. Garvey cried. "I hadn't anticipated that such a horrible thing could occur in my classroom…"

"That's what you get for having Donald here," said Andy bluntly.

"I guess all we can do now is go back to D Dorm and wait for this to be sorted out…" Rylie suggested. Everyone agreed, and the whole troop (minus Charlie and James, who had gone to see Mr. Wilson) headed back into the main school building.

xxx

"Hey, Shadow," Kane greeted as the Ultimate Lifeform stepped through the art room door into the horticulture area. "Can you tell us that story now?"

"I suppose there's nothing better to do…" consented the hedgehog. All of the students and staff gathered around. "Well, it all started about five days ago…"

* * *

**Sorry for the almost-late update… I've been super freakin' busy, so story updates aren't first in my head. I do hope you liked this doozy of a chappie, though.**

**Next Chapter: **_Last Chapter: Part 2_


	9. Last Chapter: Part 2

**A/N: So, I've decided to (for all intents and purposes) throw my posting order out the window for the time being. I'm going to do the same with my stories as I did with my comics; work on one until I'm tired of it, then move on to another. I'd like to finish Smash: Enter the Phantom soon, but there's heavy demand for MtA, so the next two chapters are coming up in the scheme of things.**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Last Chapter: Part 2**

Dave stepped toward the entrance of the control tower, ready to go back to school and be done with anger management forever, but he found himself being stopped by someone gripping the back of his shirt. He looked down to see Knuckles pointing at a display in the back of the room.

"**ACTIVATING PLAN 'HEADACHE,'**" said a mechanical voice that came from speakers all around the room.

"What exactly is Plan Headache?" the instructor asked, scratching his head. His question was followed by the low rumbling of the glassy floor that they all stood on. Suddenly, the bright florescent lights blinked out, and several green lamps lit up from underneath the floor.

"I think we're about to find out!" Sonic shouted, taking a defensive stance.

"Everyone, be ready to evacuate using the teleporter bands," advised Tails. At that moment, there was that nauseating sensation one gets when the roller coaster they are riding goes up _way_ too fast. The rounded walls began to shake, and the high whine of powerful engines could be heard.

"It was all a trap!" Knuckles growled, working one of his fists with the other. "Eggman tricked us!"

"Yeah, 'cause _that's_ rare for ya, Knucklehead…" mused the hedgehog as he rolled his eyes. Violet irises locked on him and a gloved fist rushed at his face. The azure hero somersaulted to the side and stood behind Schnieders. The elderly teacher stepped forward and held out his hands.

"Nothing's gonna get done if we let our anger control us!" he yelled. "The best way to get through this is to wait and see what happens." They didn't have to wait for very long, because soon thereafter, the walls completely fell off of their base, exposing Team Sonic and Dave to the cold air of the upper atmosphere. Tails and Knuckles, who were standing in the center of the former arena, jumped back as a panel moved down into what remained of the control tower. After a few moments, an object started to rise from the hole.

"For the love of Chaos, he's tried it _again_?!" the echidna hollered, his fists clenching and unclenching rapidly as he stared at the giant captive Emerald.

"I see you've found my little secret!" came the voice of Robotnik from somewhere unknown. As everyone looked around, it was Tails who pointed toward the south. Heading their way was Eggman, gliding on some sort of circular silver cloth with the familiar mustachioed face imprinted on the top. Team Sonic formed a tight triangle around the Master Emerald, but not before the rotund doctor had landed on it.

"No! Stop him!" Sonic screamed as the gemstone sparked and glowed. Ivo's figure became a reverse silhouette, a round white egg with limbs against the pristine blue of the higher atmosphere. Within moments, there was a huge flash of light that burst outward. The three Mobians and one human were thrown back, Knuckles almost falling off of the open platform. Everyone rubbed their eyes almost simultaneously as the light cleared, and three pairs of ears (those of Knuckles were assumedly the third pair) flattened as the form let out a booming laugh. Eggman had changed using the power of Chaos, and boy, had it been a big one. He was now at least four times his original size, and the once black pants and boots had been erased of all color. Instead of the white stripes down the legs, the bleached clothes had the same in black. Robotnik's jacket was now also black, and the yellow cuffs that adorned the doctor's wrists had shifted to red; as did the buttons at the ends of his pockets. Aside from that, he hadn't changed, unless you didn't count that his moustache had gone from straight out and orange to a sparkling gold.

"Did Eggman just _Super-Transform_?!" Knuckles bellowed. "How _dare_ he use the Master Emerald for his own gain?"

"You mean like what _you _helped him do, like, four years ago?" the hedgehog sighed, looking up at Final Eggman. "Hey, Dave… still got that bag I gave ya?" Schnieders' eyes widened as he took off the backpack. He made to toss it to Sonic, but the super-scientist was on them too quickly. A huge gloved hand shot outward, and an egg-shaped field of energy was put around the blue hero. Shortly after, the same happened to his teammates; all except for Dave, that is.

"Now to finish you while your new friends watch!" Final Eggman roared with glee. He descended to the floor, which began to creak and moan under what used to be his enormous weight, but had quadrupled since then. The doctor opened his mouth, and a green egg began forming there. Before the projectile could be fired, Dave had realized what the bag was for. He set it on the floor in front of him and brought the Chaos Emeralds from it forth. "What?! _NO_!!" cried Robotnik as the jewels swung around Schnieders in their floating, wavering circle. More flashes of light ensued, and Dave emerged from the buzzing energy.

"You may think you'll destroy me…" Super Schnieders said quietly. "but I'm gonna fight back!" The enhanced teacher's eyes had become blank, and his graying hair was transformed into a golden helm. The buttoned shirt and khaki pants gave way to a red T-shirt under a gold jacket and pants to match. The hands that had once been wrinkled and slightly gnarled with age were encased in sparking yellow spheres. Final Eggman let out a huge laugh.

"You look like the bastard child of a St. Noof fanfiction and a crappy recent SEGA game!" he rumbled.

"You don't get it, do you?" Dave sneered. "First of all, this _is _a St. Noof fanfiction; and second, SEGA's made multiple pitches to turn it into a game!" Final Eggman looked livid for a second, but it seemed like he had decided to be productive with his anger. He put his hands on the ground (it was necessary to float in the air and turn so that he faced the ground to do this), causing black shockwaves to spread out across the green-paneled floor. Super Schnieders was too quick for the attack though. He jumped high enough to meet Robotnik eye to eye, but as he held out his hand he saw that the eggs bearing Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles had been thrown off of the edge. Dave began to scream, but he realized that their energy-based shells allowed them to float in midair.

"Time to die, interloper!" Final Eggman roared. "After you're dead, I'll annihilate Sonic, and then I'll finally be the ruler of this stupid planet!" Schnieders landed on the floor of the former control tower and looked up at the crazed scientist, who was now rising high above into the stratosphere. He rolled over so that he faced squarely down, and the energized Dave started toward him. The distance between them was easily as much as ten miles, and the journey was made much more difficult as Ivo fired several dozen pointed eggs down.

_I'll never be able to push through those!_ Super Schnieders thought as one of the projectiles nearly cut his right arm off. _Dodging's the only way to go!_ By pivoting all around, the hero was able to neatly avoid all of the attacks. He tried firing an energy ball at his foe, but the assault merely fizzled away as it collided with Final Eggman's huge belly. _Looks like I'll have to charge up my Chaos Punches…_ he concluded. Clenching his fists, Dave concentrated on building up as much energy as possible in his hands. The globules of power grew slowly, but this maneuver was seen by the power-mad doctor.

"This will be your end!" grinned Final Eggman. He brought his arm back and slashed mightily downward, creating four spinning lines of darkness that fell down like a mutant clock with no face and eight hands. The energy around Super Schnieders' hands had become of a marginally large size, but there wasn't enough time to stop and dodge. The super-powered teacher spread his arms out wide and started an eternal somersault that soon transformed him into a giant energy ball. The powerful defense crashed right through the demon clock attack, but at the cost of quite a bit of Dave's stored-up attack. As he pulled out of the roll, he again started the buildup process. They surpassed the top power that Schnieders had gotten them to before, which seemed to anger Final Eggman considerably. "You're a fool to think you can stop me!" the scientist bellowed as he charged up another green egg attack. This one was quite a bit larger than the one he'd planned to kill Sonic with, and he sent it without hesitation. As the egg barreled down toward Dave, the teacher's hands came up to defend him. The two golden spheres merged, becoming a giant ball of Chaos Energy. Gold and green collided, and Super Schnieders struggled to keep the attack at bay. Eventually, the hero's attack overpowered the villain's, and all that was needed was a simple punch from Dave to send the ball flying toward Final Eggman. It hit him before he could defend, and his body sparked with the signs of paralysis.

"Dave, it's not enough!" screamed Sonic. Next was Knuckles' voice.

"You need to get close and deal some serious damage while he's unable to defend himself!" Though the voices of the Mobians should have been too far away to hear, it seemed that Super Schnieders could read them in his mind.

_Is this one of the powers of the Chaos Emeralds?_ he thought. Deciding not to take more time than he had to, Dave powered on toward the gigantic enemy. As he traveled, he readied his glowing fists, and he let loose a furious rapid-fire blast when he came into proximity. Chaos Punch after Chaos Punch sank into the resilient body of Final Eggman, and he began to shrink slowly after each twenty hits. Only about sixty or so made it before the doctor regained his ability to move, and he knocked Super Schnieders back with a brutal headbutt. Dave wasted no time in beginning the next charge of energy, but Final Eggman was wise to his attempts.

"My gullibility is not quite echidnan, you pathetic fool!" the doctor boomed. Both arms were brought back this time, and a double demon clock was unleashed along with multitudes of Egg Spears. Without thinking, Super Schnieders released the energy and shouted, "Chaos Control!" Time slowed enough for the powered-up teacher to pass by each Egg Spear, and he was able to slide through two of the black lines. He managed to stop the effects of Chaos Control just after he got through the onslaught and started the buildup of his Super Punch. With an angry roar, Robotnik flew even farther back and appeared to be aiming to charge downward. This was, however, enough time to create a massive Super Punch, which crashed through Final Eggman's head as he rocketed at Schnieders. The doctor did several slow flips backward, and Dave took the opportunity to zoom forward and start up again with the Chaos Punch barrage. Super Schnieders fired more furiously this time, and at least a hundred made it through before Eggman regained control. Before he could defend himself from any more attacks, the scientist was hit by three quick dashes from Dave. Final Eggman looked more like Sort-of-Halfway-Through Eggman by now; his size had diminished greatly, and the golden moustache was fading back to orange. The buttons and cuffs were back to yellow, and the black stripes had returned to white.

"Did he just insult echidnan intelligence?" Knuckles growled in Schnieders' ear.

"Take it easy, Knuckles…" advised Tails. "Dave, you need to be careful! The effects of Super-Transformation are only temporary, and you could easily die if you fell from that height!"

_Better make this quick then, I suppose…_ Dave thought as Robotnik returned to his original position.

"This story is finished!" Final Eggman bellowed as he spawned several swirling purple clouds that dropped down at Dave.

"This story isn't over until the comedic conclusion!" Super Schnieders retorted. Eggman let out a mad roar of fury, and thousands of Egg Spears were released. "You don't understand, do you Eggman?" the teacher asked as he watched most of the projectiles sail harmlessly in completely random directions. "If you let anger get the best of you, you can't accomplish anything! When you keep your cool and think about your situation, you'll always come out on top." This comment was followed by Super Schnieders dashing at an extreme speed through the air. His sheer velocity was enough force to bust through the purple clouds, and a golden sphere was suddenly visible as Dave brought his hands from behind his back. Before Robotnik could use any more attacks, the ball had been launched and had wrapped itself around the mad doctor.

"This can't be happening!" Eggman cried.

"Ah, but it is…" Super Schnieders said with a chuckle. "Chaos… _**BLAST!!**_" There was what seemed like a long moment of hesitation, and then the entrapping sphere exploded. Gold light spread from its origin and covered the entire horizon. In the middle of the resounding boom that filled the air (along with everyone's ears), Eggman could be heard screaming. Looking down, Dave decided it was high time to make sure he could land safely. He at first went into a straight nose dive toward the control platform, but he slowed it to a hover as he came within ten feet of the spot. The black transparent eggs had disappeared, and Team Sonic stood unscathed on the green panels.

"You surprise me yet again, Dave…" Knuckles said solemnly.

"You were surprised, Knux?" asked Sonic. He gave off a light-hearted scoff. "I knew he'd pull through! Why d'you think I asked him to come along?"

"Sonic…" Tails started, but not before he was cut off by a certain red antagonist.

"It was Schnieders who asked to come with us, hedgehog!" he yelled. "And besides, you'd carry Eggman if he whined of a broken leg!"

"I think he might be ready to whine about more than that…" Tails murmured, pointing to a heap near the east edge of the platform. The four heroes made their way cautiously to the collapsed figure that could only be Eggman. There was a loud groan, and the scientist raised his bald head.

"You never learn your lesson, do ya Buttnik?" smirked Sonic. "You should always expect us to be on your case, always defying your plans! It's all thanks to the power of – "

"You say 'teamwork,' and I'll make sure you get killed," Knuckles warned. Sonic shut his mouth immediately.

"I'll have my revenge one day…" Eggman groaned. "I-I-I… re-re-reve-e-e-e-enge… d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d…" His image began to spark and fade as gray specks started appearing. Within forty-five seconds, he was completely gone.

"A hologram!" shouted Tails, his hand immediately going up to his head and scratching it lightly, "I _knew _something was up!"

"Whatchoo mean 'up?!'" Sonic asked.

"_That's_ what I mean…" answered the kit as he extended a gloved index finger upward. Three pairs of eyes followed the trajectory of his gesture and spotted the pinprick of green light coming from the barely visible vestiges of outer space. "Eggman isn't here – he never was! He's up there, and he's got a plan!"

"Still got that bag I gave ya, Dave?" asked Sonic. "We're gonna need it…"

* * *

**Phew… Finally, this chapter is done. Thanks to all who wait patiently for their favorite stories to update, and I'd like to let everyone reading this know that MtA and The Ultimate Challenge are near the top of my priority list, as I have a _lot _of ideas for TUC, and I've been positively begged for updates on this story. Enjoy them while they last, folks, because after Manage Thy Anger's reached Chapter Twelve, it's done.**

**Next Chapter:** _A Disturbed Individual_


	10. A Disturbed Individual

**A/N: Yeah, updates for Manage Thy Anger are highly requested before the 21st, so I'm working on this chapter as a special "shut up and let me write" to Sammie Weisenbach… I _have _been looking forward to writing this interlude, though, so don't get me wrong. Also, I'd like to announce that I will post a Chapter 13 for awesome fourth-wall breaking action! Its title will be "Ask the Cast," and the IC (MtA wise) characters will answer all of the reviews up to that point. So… if you have anything to ask your favorite Mobian or ISBVI student or teacher from the story, please don't hesitate to comment and inquire!**

* * *

**Chapter 10: A Disturbed Individual**

"All you said was, 'it all started about five days ago…'" Jimmy said as Shadow stood in front of the group. At least fifteen minutes had passed since the sentence had been uttered, and there was even enough time for Lexi to cut in and inform everyone that the Egg-sterminator's control tower had launched into what was thought to be outer space.

"Oh, I was actually supposed to talk?" asked the Ultimate Lifeform. "I thought I just made the opening statement and you all got to see the event as it actually happened…"

"Actually, I've just completed a device that could serve such a purpose," Tony intervened.

"Since when do you create devices, Tony?" demanded Mrs. Garvey. Tony blushed profusely and brought forth a large box with a headset attached. He placed the headset on Shadow.

"Now, just start telling the story, and the machine will pick up your memories and show us the event," explained the boy. Shadow nodded.

"As I was saying, it all started about five days ago…" Shadow began. A hole in the box suddenly lit up and projected a screen. Before long, the screen showed said hedgehog walking to a door in the same building as Mr. Schnieders' room. He turned the knob and opened the door, but was almost run over by a student with short dark hair.

-O-

"You're gonna die, too!" the boy screamed. "They'll come and stuff your intestines down your throat, bake you, and feed you to their starving zombie armies!" Screaming inarticulately, he ran in the direction of the dorms. Shadow sighed and walked inside the room.

"Robert seems to be making a lot of progress…" he commented idly as he shut the door behind him and took a seat on the soft couch on the same wall. The room resembled a normal classroom, except for said couch. There was a short man with dark hair and glasses sitting in a swivel chair at the desk in the back.

"And, um… how are we doing today, Shadow?" the man asked kindly.

"Not too great today, Dr. Mathews…" the ebon rodent sighed as he stretched out on the hedgehog-proofed couch. "I'm starting to wonder about my past again…"

"We just discussed this last week," Dr. Mathews scolded. "Your past is… well, um… the past. Your future is what you need to be focused on."

"How can you focus on forever?!" Shadow shouted. "I have an _eternity_ to live and think about the f –" The door opened, and a dark bald boy poked his head in.

"EFF!" he yelled in a very high pitch as he left and slammed the door behind him.

"– king future!" finished Shadow furiously. He clenched his right fist, and it became a mass of green sparks.

"Okay, okay. Let's, um… put the Chaos Spears away and we can talk about your past, okay?" the psychologist suggested. Shadow growled viciously and dissipated the attack. "Now… what is it that seems to be, um… troubling you about your past?"

"It's the whole thing about the GUN guys shooting Maria…" lamented the Ultimate Lifeform.

"I can understand how that might be, um… traumatic for you," agreed the doctor. "I once read a story about some supposed superior being who was friends with a human and –"

"That wouldn't happen to have been the manual for Sonic Adventure 2, would it?" asked Shadow. Dr. Mathews became very red, but the hedgehog just sighed as a tear slid along his muzzle. "I mean, _seriously_! I'm the Ultimate friggin' Lifeform! If they were trying to kill me, why would they use a _gun_?!"

"Um… Plot device, if I had to guess…" answered the psychologist.

"Well, I've had _enough _of stupid plot twists that get my friends killed!" bellowed Shadow. "The only way to make sure this never happens agains is to ruin all of the best plot twists!"

"Shadow, I wouldn't, um… do that…" advised Dr. Mathews.

"Screw you, man!" With a deep breath, Shadow continued his rant. "Snape killed D –"

**Several _very_ hackneyed references later…**

"Nicole Kidman is a ghost and Rosebud is the sled!" finished the Ultimate Lifeform. "There! I've ridden the world of any desire to watch any more movies, play any more games, or read any more books! Now all of my friends will be safe from plot twists… if I had any friends, that is…"

"Shadow… You really need to calm down, okay?" asked the psychologist.

"Shadow calms down when he pleases!" roared the hedgehog. He jumped up, and his gloved hands were once again encased in the Chaos sparks. Pointing at Dr. Mathews, he shouted, "Chaos… Spear!" Several pointed bolts of energy flew in the young doctor's direction, but time seemed to stop before they could hit. Within an instant, Mathews was behind Shadow. "Hey, you're really fast!" Shadow said admiringly.

"No… I'm just, um… cheating, that's all…" admitted the psychologist. He withdrew an orange gem from behind his back. "Chaos, um… Control!" Time slowed as Shadow prepared another attack. Dr. Mathews ran behind Shadow again and wrapped his hands around the Ultimate Lifeform's neck. "Oh, and, um… Shadow calms down when _I_ pleases!" In slow-motion, the hedgehog choked and coughed as the slowed-down versions of various curses escaping his muzzle as he passed out. Time went back to normal, and the doctor breathed a sigh of relief. "I really hate doing that to my clients…" he said regretfully. He made to cross the room back to his desk when he heard muffled, quiet words.

"Chaos… Blast…" Bespectacled eyes looked at the black-and-red rodent, but there was no time to act before the searing scarlet explosion filled the room. The energy burned like living fire; its tongues cutting through Mathews' skin with the ferocity of the hedgehog himself times at least three thousand, and the psychologist screamed as he was thrown back against the wall. His glasses broke, but he was able to see Shadow advancing through the blurring energy field. "Calms down when _you _pleases, eh, Mathews?" the experiment sneered. He held up a hand, which became blanketed in the necessary force for Chaos Spears. Just as he was about to launch one through Dr. Mathews' skull, time slowed yet again. The doctor rolled out of the way of the slowed Spear. The energy of the user was greatly exemplified by the amount of time the Chaos Control worked for, as he only had those precious seconds to put distance between himself and Shadow.

"Shadow…" tried the young teacher/psychologist again. "You need to calm down." Crimson eyes widened as Shadow turned around to face Mathews.

"How the f –" The door opened again, with the same student shouting "EFF!" into the room.

"Nicholas, get to class…" Mathews advised. The boy slammed the door.

"– k did you get that Chaos Emerald?!" demanded the Ultimate Lifeform, his breathing becoming heavy. He still looked like he had a lot of fight in him, but it also appeared that a good hit to the chest might just knock him out.

"Well, um… I got from a blue hedgehog…" answered the doctor. "He said that if I was giving you therapy, I'd need it… as well as a pair of earplugs for when you start talking about Maria."

"I'ma snap his neck like I did with the bellboy…" mumbled the hedgehog.

"Now, I'll have, um… none of that in my room!" scolded Dr. Mathews. "I'm afraid this is a little too relaxed for you, so I'm going to have you attend six more weeks of Mr. Schnieders' anger management class, okay?" Shadow grumbled and turned to walk out the door, but he was stopped by the doctor. "Hold on, Shadow. Let me write you a pass…" He began writing something down on a slip of paper when the Ultimate Lifeform fainted (be it from exhaustion or exasperation, no one will _ever_ know).

-O-

"And then it was now, and now I don't know what happened…" Shadow finished. The projection disappeared.

"That's it?" Jimmy asked. "All that, and you got placed in anger management?!"

"Dude… I _killed _someone, and that's what they gave me as a sentence," Shadow reminded him. "I swore several times that when they let me out, the first I'd do is kill again, and they _shortened_ the sentence!"

"Come to think of it, that _is _kinda broken…" Jake commented.

"Broken but _awesome_!" laughed Mandy. "I should save the planet sometime!"

"Someday, you will…" Mrs. Garvey predicted. "But why do I have the feeling that it will involve a children's card game?" Jake, Lexi, Mandy, Shadow, and Preston shrugged. Just then, James and Charlie reentered D Dorm.

"They caught 'im!" James cried with glee. "All year, he's been stealing all kinds of stuff from everyone, and they've _finally _pinned all of it on Donald!" Charlie nodded.

"They searched his house and found Jake's backpack with all the stuff, all the money he'd stolen from TJ, Adrian, and Tyler, Wiltsie's iPod…" listed Charlie. "Not to mention that I'm in the clear, and Donald's been expelled." Everyone cheered.

"I told you he did it…" Preston commented. A giant fist bonked the top of his head.

"We _all _knew he did it!" shouted Andy.

"And to think it was revealed in a chapter of Manage Thy Anger…" Sienna murmured.

"What the hell's Manage Thy Anger?!" Shadow asked.

* * *

**Well, there you have it, folks… The infamous Chapter Ten… I hope you all enjoy it, because I'm gonna take a short break from MtA to work on The Ultimate Challenge and a new project I've been thinking of. In other words, keep a look out for my next epic, Trainers' Academy; and my next oneshot, Revisited.**

**Next Chapter:** _Last Chapter: Part 3_


	11. Last Chapter: Part 3

**A/N: Wow… I'm up to Chapter 11 already… seems like just last year I started this story… Oh, wait – I did start it last year! I know this is obviously my most popular story (although I'm not sure why), and I bet a lot of you fans out there are real sore about it ending, but that should only prompt you further to ask the cast lots and lots of questions.**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Last Chapter: Part 3**

"Why?" asked Dave, looking up at the light. It seemed to be growing at a nauseatingly slow pace, but its purpose was still very much a mystery. Suddenly, all of the panels on the floor they were on went from florescent green to the type of snowy gray on a broken TV. Within moments, Eggman's huge moustache was present under their feet.

"Because I'm finally going to destroy the world!" the scientist crackled. "It's actually quite the marvelous plan… All I had to do was get Knuckles into that car accident –"

"_You caused this?_" roared Knuckles. "_You are the one who made me suffer these weeks of horror and stupidity? I oughtta… _No… I _will _kill you!"

"Not without hearing the rest of my clichéd evil monologue, you won't!" boomed Robotnik. "Anyway, all I had to do was pose as an everyday pedestrian, almost get killed underneath that four-wheel drive behemoth you call a truck, and get you sent to anger management class! After that, it was too easy to steal the Master Emerald!"

"I have a question…" Tails said, raising his hand. "If you already had the Emerald, and you knew that you could transform into Final Eggman, why didn't you just use that form to fly into the core of the earth and make it all go _boom_?"

"Plot device!" Eggman yelled. "_Anyway_, once I had the Master Emerald, all I had to do was build that multi-quadrillion-dollar aircraft, have it destroyed, and fly up to this nifty little remnant of Space Colony ARK!" Everyone gasped. "Using the prototype of the Eclipse Cannon on this ARK chunk, I was able to figure out that I could use its tiny amount of power to focus through the Master Emerald, making it a beam of unsurpassable magnitude!"

"So you had this story planned from the very first chapter?" Sonic asked. "Did you plan for Sammie to get so into it, too?" Schnieders clapped a hand over Sonic's mouth, but the doctor nodded.

"It was all according to my evil plan!" he continued. All of the time while he had been gloating, Knuckles had stealthily snatched the bag from Dave's hands and had used its contents to transform into Super Knuckles. He didn't look like his usual self, however. Rather than the pink aura and flashing color that usually accompanied Super Knuckles, he was a solid gold color with red tints in his dreads that went all the way down to black. The Guardian crest that adorned the echidna's chest had now become black as well, and a field of fire surrounded his entire form. "Actually, that little skirmish in Chapter Five wasn't really expected, but –"

"Wait – if you had the Master Emerald all along, how was Knux able to summon it in Chapter Five?" asked Dave.

"Save it for Ask the Cast!" Eggman rumbled. "Oh, and now that I've distracted you for an inordinate amount of time, behold as my Omega Cannon annihilates Earth!" The little spot of light that had been neglected for so long now looked pretty darn dangerous, and it didn't help that it was now a thin green beam that threatened to burn the hide of anyone caught in its path. The charge zoomed down, its trajectory clearly marked at the center of the platform, but it met with a flash of gold and red before it could finish its course.

"_This _is for stealing my _Emerald_!" Knuckles screamed, taking a handful of the beam and hurling it upward. It sailed for miles, and a small explosion could be seen from their vantage point.

"No!" Eggman cried as the picture on the platform began to shake. "You've sent the ARK chunk out of orbit! It's going to explode!" Super Knuckles was far too busy to care at that point, for he was fading fast and taking damage from the Eclipse Beam as it happened. Before long, he was forced to jump out of the way rather than be fried. The beam swayed and swiveled as the piece of the ARK made its final attack on the planet that it was supposed to save, and the energy emptied into the platform. The Master Emerald seemed to draw it in, using the material of the panels to suck every particle of the attack in. The entire platform began to glow with menacing green energy, and a huge ball formed underneath.

"Sonic…" Schnieders said. "I, uh… I think I'm having a mini freak-out here… Tell me I don't have to stay here."

"But you _do!_" Sonic shouted. "We all have to work together to stop that blast from blowing up Earth!"

"Oh, it won't blow it up…" Tails informed gloomily. All eyes were on the amber kit.

"He's right!" laughed Robotnik from the glowing panels. "The Omega Cannon will permeate every inch of Earth's surface, spreading its energy down to the core! Once it hits… _Kablam!_"

"I'm afraid he's right…" agreed Tails sadly. "I don't even think Super Sonic could stop that much power…" The fox looked down as tears began falling from his eyes. "We've actually lost, and it's all because of Knuckles' road rage!" He looked up in surprise when Sonic let out a chuckle.

"Tails, don't you ever learn?" the hedgehog asked. "_My_ stories don't end 'til I stop running, and _no one_ stops me from doin' just that!" Emerald eyes locked onto Dave. "Ready to save the world, Super Schnieders?" A huge grin spread across the teacher's face. Sonic picked up the worn bag and reached out with his other hand. Schnieders took it, and Tails grabbed the human's remaining free hand. "Tails… you're actually gonna help us?" The young fox nodded.

"I have to…" he replied. "It'll make this a cooler chapter!" Two gloved hands worked together to open the bag, and the Chaos Emeralds once again spun from its depths. This time, Super Schnieders was accompanied by the familiar gold hedgehog whose quills stood on end, and Super Tails, who no longer was limited by the idiotic pink aura and random Flickies. Instead, the ends of the kit's tails transformed from white to brown, and the normally pointed tips were frayed and seemed to be blowing in an invisible wind. The gold strands of hair atop Tails' head had also grown a kind of variegated look, as they went from gold at the base to shades of brown to black at the tips.

"Everyone ready?" Sonic asked.

"Hold it, hedgehog." Sonic, Tails, and Schnieders looked around to see Knuckles holding the Emeralds. "No one's going to save the world without me," he growled and transformed again.

"Y'know, not that this isn't totally cool-looking…" said Tails. "but don't you think we're spamming the whole Super-Transformation thing just a bit? I mean, it's happened, like, five times already!" Everyone else shrugged. "Whatever…" grumbled the fox as they formed a tight diamond.

"Let's show this creep the true superpower of teamw –" Sonic's line was cut short by a quick jab to his stomach from the super-powered echidna.

"Do you _want _to die here?" Knuckles snapped.

"Knuckles, that's quite enough of your anger!" Schnieders scolded. "It's time to ignore our rage and work together to stop the Earth from being destroyed."

"It's a little late for that, I'm afraid," said Eggman. "You see, while you were making all those references and cheesy hero lines, I finished charging the Omega Cannon, so now I'm firing it." The ball of green suddenly became a pillar as it was released from its source. The cylinder of energy reached toward the ground like a groping stump hand, and for a second, all looked lost.

"It's not too late…" Knuckles said quietly. "It's _never _too late!" Together, the four heroes flew downward, racing the business end of the Omega Beam and meeting it halfway down. Their formation held as they began to try and push back the enormous energy pillar, but they were still descending rapidly. Gold began to fade to red, blue, orange, and gray as the beam finally started to retreat. From way up above, Eggman's voice could still be heard.

"What? No! It's going to explode… again!" The platform exploded in a brilliant flash of orange, green, and black, but Team Sonic and Schnieders had bigger things to concern themselves with.

"We're still miles above the city!" Sonic screamed. "I guess at least we'll die a hero's death!"

"Not yet, we won't!" yelled Schnieders, holding up his wrist and showing the teleporter band. "On the count of three, we give these babies one last spin! One… two… three!" With four glimmers of green light, Team Sonic and Schnieders was gone.

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**I think that's the quickest I've ever written a chapter of MtA… Well, maybe Chapters 1 and 3 were quickies, too, but that was when my writing skill was just a baby in my repertoire… Hope you fans are liking the last bits of Manage Thy Anger, and please don't forget to ask your questions soon!**

**Next Chapter: **_Graduation Day_


	12. Graduation Day

**A/N: The last chapter of Manage Thy Anger… did any of you percieve its end? I didn't. I had this little premonition of it going on for a lot longer, but what can I say – every world has its end, and this is it for this version of ISBVI. So, enjoy this chapter and this story as a collective, and please don't forget the upcoming Ask the Cast chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 12: Graduation Day**

With a glimmer of green lights, four figures appeared inside the tower classroom. A cool breeze blew into the room, due to the missing window, and Dave enjoyed the warm afternoon sunlight streaming in after so long in the cold of the upper atmosphere. The middle-aged teacher collapsed in his chair behind the desk and sighed as Team Sonic found themselves seats. Just then, the bell rang, and the usual group of students entered.

"Hey, you're back!" James said as he took a seat.

"So how'd my substitute do?" asked Schnieders. Mr. Gaczko had just walked in.

"It took a lot to get these guys moving, but I think I whipped 'em into shape," the replacement teacher said with a chuckle. "We got to hear a real neat story, thanks to our spiky friend here."

"You say it's neat, but I say it's embarrassing…" mumbled Shadow. He looked up suddenly. "In fact, you'd do well to never mention it again. That is, unless you want a Chaos Spear through your leg."

"Now, now, Shadow…" scolded Dave. "Those jokes aren't appreciated in the city…" There was a long pause as several students entered and found chairs. "I think we already did that joke."

"_Soon, the mind-raping shall commence!_" Mayhem hissed. Mandy laughed loudly and hugged the ebon vulpine.

"Your sense of humor reminds me of Jake's!" the girl laughed. Jake looked at her and shrugged.

"Y'know… I told you I'm not a huggy person," growled the three-tail. "I strongly suggest that you release me." Mandy let go and turned to Jake. Before the dark-haired boy could say or do anything, she was embracing him tightly. A clump of dirt flew through the open spot in the window, almost hitting Jake's head.

"All right, settle down ya knuckleheads!" shouted Schnieders. "I'm calling an honorary graduation ceremony today."

"Does this mean I don't have to go to Dr. Mathews' class?" Andy and Sammie asked in unison.

"Just for that, you don't get to watch." Andy and Sammie groaned and walked out of the room. "Without further ado, I'd like to have Knuckles the Echidna step forward," Schnieders said proudly. The scarlet monotreme stood up slowly and approached the desk. The teacher reached inside the top drawer and brought out a diploma. "Knuckles, for your bravery and courage in the field, I present you with this graduation diploma for the ISBVI Anger Management course." Gloved hands took the paper gently, and the students began chanting for a speech. Clearing his throat, Knuckles turned around.

"Ladies and gentlemen, humans and sapients," the echidna started. "A few weeks ago, I almost ran down a fat megalomaniac-in-disguise. It was all part of his plan to get me out of the way so he could steal a priceless artifact from me and use it to take over the world. I was mad enough about the fact that I lost my truck, but when I learned that Robotnik was behind it, I practically strangled my teammates. If there's anything I've learned from this class, it's that managing your anger is a real lifesaver. In fact, it was Eggman's rage that caused him to lose that fight with Super Schnieders." There were many gasps and cheers. "But the thing that takes precedence over that is… there's nothing wrong with staying calm. If you end up like Shadow did when he tried to trespass at _my_ house, I'mma pummel you until you need three of these classes… or until they sentence me to three of them. Also, I've realized that the copious amount of TV show and video game references in this whole ordeal is quite annoying, and that I'll probably never turn my TV on again as long as I live." More cheers ensued. "It also kinda bugs me that we got so much more attention than that card game story and the rewrite of that play…" There was some general confusion among the audience. "Anyway, I just want to thank a few people for their support in this. Shadow, for sticking with me and making fun of all the kids in here, and Sonic for driving me to class most of the time. Oh, and Tails, for taking that joke so well." Shadow snickered loudly. "Also, I'd like to thank James for getting so mad when I tried to cut his hair. That made him look really funny." The hippie glared at Knuckles. "I'd also like to thank Andy for helping me defend that kid who always looks surprised… and for hitting that one albino kid…" A low giggle could be heard from down the hall.

"Uh, I hate to break into your little speech there, but are you just trying to stall?" Dave asked, scratching his head.

"Why would I be trying to stall?" asked the echidna. He shook his dreadlocks and continued. "And last of all, I want to offer a special thanks to Mr. Schnieders. He saved all of our butts, and it's all thanks to his calm attitude and years of experience."

"Well, I guess it's time to let you guys go to your next class…" Schnieders said. Everyone got up and crowded through the door, and Team Sonic stayed behind.

"Thanks, Dave," said Sonic.

"Yeah, you really saved our butts back there!" Tails agreed. "Right, Knuckles?"

"Hn."

"Well, I've gotta teach some social studies in a few minutes, so you guys should get going," Dave said, a little sadly.

"Hey… if we need you again, we know where you are," assured the blue hedgehog. With that, the three Mobians walked out the door and down the hallway. As they were nearing the stairs that went down to the middle floor, Knuckles almost tripped over the cane of a short girl with shoulder-length brown hair.

"Watch where you're going, you tard!" she yelled. Before the echidna could respond, she had faced him and squeezed the sides of her head. In an instant, her prosthetic eyes had hit the Guardian in the face, causing him to run around in circles.

"Get 'em off me!" he screamed. "Aaaaagh, they're all ocular and stuff!" When spiked mittens had succeeded in throwing the pieces off, Knuckles put a hand on the girl's shoulder. She turned and glared at him with empty sockets that could've been full of fire. "Young lady, I think you have a problem with your anger," the echidna told her. "Maybe you should visit Mr. Schnieders sometime."

* * *

***sniff sniff* I can't believe it's over… A story that's been the collaborated efforts and ideas of almost an entire school has come to end, and I couldn't have ended it better. Yes, Manage Thy Anger will always be one of my favorites, and it puts a vice on my heart to watch its last chapter come to a close. I know this is my most popular work, and I want to let you all know that I really appreciate the support you've given it. And trust me, this long farewell is totally not just a ploy to run the word count up… *shifty eyes* I hope you've enjoyed this tale that I've spun since last year, and please don't forget that my other epics need love.**

**Final Installment: **_Ask the Cast_


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